Weird World

This tiny sumo wrestler is cute – but what the huge sumo wrestler does is even cuter

Poke Staff. Updated April 8th, 2022

At Japan’s Naki Sumo Festival, sumo wrestlers try – and succeed – to make babies cry, because their crying is supposed to drive away demons and protect the children.

Here’s how it works.

Just because they make babies cry for the festival, doesn’t mean they do it at any other time.

Akiyoshi Nagai – @rien0514 – shared this clip of a 16-month-old child making their sumo debut, and it’s almost too much cuteness for one video.

The clip has been retweeted almost 55,000 times in just over two days and been viewed nearly four million times.

Here are a few of the many reactions.

It put @Jon_Waples in mind of a very different encounter.

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Source Akiyoshi Nagai Image Screengrab