Baby Cry Competition 心泣き相撲

Winner is raised higher

On May 5th, Kodomo No Hi (Kids' Day), there was a sumo baby crying competition held in Shitodo-maekawa Shrine (横浜青葉田園場所
神鳥前川神社) near Tana Station (田奈).  Whichever kid cries the most is the winner. Host mother Hiromi-chan's youngest kid Hotapi is going to compete. So we, take advantage of the opportunity, snapped some really funny photos of the event.
You can find more information about how to apply and future event on: http://www.nakisumo.jp/

Unexpected blindness

Each participating kid will pay for 13000 yen, which is about 130 dollars. This include costume, name tag, souvenirs and photo chances. Sumo wrestlers wearing mawashi (the diaper-looking belt) held each kid from the armpit, so kids do not have anyway to fight back except kicking their legs into the air and crying. When the game starts, both the judge and the wrestlers will start to make faces and loud noise to scare the baby, to induce them cry. The whole process continues for about 2 min, until one baby who had the loudest cry wins.

Sumo wrestlers teasing a kid

Sumo wrestlers are very funny and gentle

little Hotapi won the game!

This cute little baby just had his first tooth grown!

video of the event

At the end of the game, I saw on Hotapi's arm, there's two 9-dots pink mark. At first I thought it was the same kind on the top of the head of a Buddhist monk, which is the burnt mark of "Ai Cao"to show his status in the temple. Siddhartha has 10 dots.

Then Hiromi-chan told me every japanese has that mark, it was due to vaccination. I couldn't find online the reason why they use this shape of vaccination tool rather than a normal syringe needle, doesn't that multiply the painful feeling by 9 times? So I brought this question to herbalist Masuda Takayuki-sensei. He replied me in the email :

"The nine needles are surrounded by a circle part. Due to this part, when a docter press the tool to a kid, needles do not stick deeply. So, it's less painful.

But why it have to be nine needles, not one? 

If the vactination liquid is injected at one place of skin, it may cause inflammation.
To avoid it, we inject the vactination at nine spread places."

This might be a better way to vaccinate a baby because it's fast and on the epithelium. Since baby cry and move a lot, the common long deep needles used in US and China will probably cause tissue damage inside.

So smart!

三浦半岛和5.5东京地震 Miura Peninsula and May 5th Tokyo Earthquake

Yesterday around 6:10, I was waked up by a 10-sec long earthquake shaking. First thing coming up into mind is what Masuda-sensei told us, to sleep side way, and cover myself with blankets and soft pillows. Fortunately it stopped and we are able to sleep another two more hours.

Later the center of this earthquake was found to be near Ito (伊豆大岛），Sagamiwan(相模湾）， neighbor with Miura Peninsula.

Trip to Miura was on May 2nd, following the book "Day Walks Near Tokyo" first chapter by Gary D'A. Walters, was an amazing experience. This book is written in 1988 so you would expect a lot of information has changed, but since Japanese trains and buses sticks to their already-assigned routes, the info is unlikely to be outdated.

Maguro（金枪鱼，tuna) Stick is yummy, especially with some cheese on. Deep fried in oil.

Cliff on the sea shore is absolutely amazing

Graveyard of sea shells. Nature gives, also takes away.

Mollusk creature on the shore. It seemed to be dead, but the body is still rubbery. On its bottom, there were many "bugs". Don't know if they were devouring the creature. Please tell me if you know what is it.

Ballonfish(河豚）also grows in Miura, this kind does not have stunning needles on its body. As you know, the blood and liver of ballonfish can kill a person. Some japanese fishermen have bred unpoisonous ballonfish by changing its diet. These ones seem to be wild.











There's a flower shop right in front of the Miura-Kaigan Station(三浦海岸) where a lot of people bought Chrysanthemum, a mourning flower given to the dead people in asian culture. Maybe somewhere in Miura there's a cemetery that holds many souls.