Chigo Sumo: Carrying the expectations of parents and grandparents for a glimpse of girl power

"Is she really going to be okay, even though she's a girl?" my husband muttered anxiously at my parents' house. Even though it wasn't New Year's, we were visiting my parents' home for the local autumn festival.
"You should come and show us your daughter. We have a rare custom in the autumn," my parents had said, so I went to the shrine in the mountains on the designated day. That part was fine. But I was surprised when we got back to my parents' house. My parents had taken it upon themselves to register my daughter to participate in the Chigo Sumo held at the autumn festival.

"She is a girl, after all," my husband said, looking puzzled. My parents laughed and replied, "Well, it's not really sumo; it's just a staring contest with a child of the same age. We were asked by the shrine representative because they were short on participants this year," my father said, desperately trying to persuade my husband, who didn't know the situation.

My husband gave a bitter smile and agreed, "Well, I suppose that's fine," and we all went to the shrine as a family. Had it been two years since I last visited this shrine in the mountains? This past New Year's, since our child was still very young, we had visited my parents' home but had played it safe and not come to the shrine.

At first, people were gathered at the shrine's worship hall at the top of the stairs, performing something like a religious ritual. There seemed to be a main hall up a flight of stairs above the worship hall. A headband had already been placed on my daughter's head, but perhaps she takes after me, as she was completely unfazed by the new and unfamiliar environment.

"She's definitely going to have strong girl power," I thought, pinning my hopes on my daughter, even setting aside my bias as a parent. If you asked me whether I have girl power, well, I'm not really sure. "That's interesting," my husband said, ignoring the ritual and looking at two trees standing side by side. They were the married cedar trees standing in the shrine grounds.

The ritual ended, and everyone came out of the worship hall. They gathered at the sumo ring that had been prepared below the shrine hall. And so, the Chigo Sumo began in turn. What they do is sit two children in the ring and see who cries first.

Most children, faced with an unfamiliar environment and many adults other than their own parents, immediately get scared and start crying.

"Alright, it's this child's turn," they said, and finally, it was my daughter's turn. Like the other children, she was placed in the ring, but the other child started crying immediately and ran to their parents, ending the match quickly. However, my daughter showed no signs of fear at all and was looking around with interest.

"Oh, it's as if she's enjoying being watched by everyone," my mother remarked. "That's right, that child is a big deal. I look forward to her future," my father muttered while looking at my husband. "Y-yes, I suppose so. B-but she is a girl," he said quietly.
"I knew she had girl power," I thought while eating the zenzai we were all given after the Chigo Sumo ended.

Chigo Sumo: Carrying the expectations of parents and grandparents for a glimpse of girl power
(Chigo-zumo, joshiryoku no, henrin o, oya to sofubo ni, kitai seoware)

Before I knew it, I was composing a tanka poem. It's actually my husband's hobby.

Today, I participated in Akira Yamane's project, "What I Think of as Girl Power."

I used today's article, "Kawakami Shrine in Kawachinagano, where Chigo Sumo is held in the autumn," as a reference.

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