Piggyback Dance Ceremony draws one performer May 14th, 2008
Mainichi reported a pretty sad story today;
A traditional dancing ceremony in which baby girls ride piggyback on dancers was held in the Sagata district of Akune, Kagoshima Prefecture, with about 400 people taking part.
Alright, so it’s not really that sad a story. Baby girls bouncing around on dancers, hopefully not crying and everyone having a good time. It’s much happier for this kids than the crying sumo competition, that’s for sure!
However…
Due to declining birth rates, the number of babies taking part has declined each year, and in the ceremony on Monday, there was only one baby — 6-month-old Kaho Fukuda.
That poor girl! All that pressure and expectation to perform well! The festival is for baby girls born in the Sagata district, and apparently she was the only one for the festival. The poor kid. Apparently she rode on the back of her parents and grandmother, as well as other participants. Sounds like a case of “pass the baby” here. If you guys want a kid, have one! Hey, that could be a slogan to stop Japan’s declining birth rate.
Kaho rode on the backs of her parents and other participants for over an hour. After looking around at the cameras focused on her, she fell fast asleep, bringing a peaceful mood to the event venue.
Stuck on a dancing back for an hour. I think I’d fall asleep too. Good for Kaho, I say. So as a tribute to the one and only performer this year, here’s her picture. While she was still awake.
Awwwww….
Her expression is a cross between annoyance and bemusement. Although if I had be dressed like her and passed around from person to person, strapped on their backs while they dance around. I’d look like that too.
Alpha: I dunno, I’d probably fall asleep… oh, wait…