Scary guy

That child is mentally scarred for life.

That child is mentally scarred for life.

yes, undesirable show (tradition) in contemporary Tokyo.

That child is mentally scarred for life.

Explains Akita having the highest suicide rate in Japan maybe? Kids cry every Setsubun as well, nothing wrong with a little fear in peoples lives.

Toughen up, princess!!!

"That child is mentally scarred for life"

Ha ha, nah, it builds character, doncha know, lol

Oh for Pete's sake, kids that age cry when they meet Mickey Mouse...

Himajin - exactly :))

Today its a Namahage (Ogre) costume... in 20 years she'll be wearing a maid costume. It's part of the natural progression from childhood to adulthood in Japan, don'tcha know.

The child might have been crying before they saw the ogre. Great costume!

Good strong forearms in the pic

"The child might have been crying before they saw the ogre"

If it was boy, yeah, lol.

Put the baby in ice water to make him strong.

A baby cries...

A toddler clings tighter to his mother...

The little girl in red, is looking for the strings...

Those Namahage go door-to-door, looking for any spoiled disobedient children. Children are told the story that a child's lazy spirit that is disobedient is dragged into the snow covered mountains away from their parents. Namahage comes into the house, looking for children, chasing them, asking them "Are you behaving yourself?". The young children, absolutely frightened, scream with fear and run for their parents, and they say, "おりこうさんする～～～"(I'll behave! I'll behave!!!) Then the parents soothe their kids and tell Namahage that their kids have been behaving and will behave. The Namahage then encourage the children to keep behaving themselves and study hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gH2iN42VV8

The mask is truly cool. Thumbs up. I love the Japanese monsters.

Man I totally want to use a mask like this for a wadaiko concert.

Kind of an anti-Santa...

That's a mask? I thought I saw a guy that looked like that walking across the street last night.

I think clowns are way scarier than namahage...

I went to a namahage show in Akita pref some years back. A number of parents were there with pre-school aged children. The namahage scared the bejeebers out of the kids, made them promise to behave — or else. The kids were in hysterics.

I think this means of scaring kids into submission would be seen as an act of cruelty in most countries. I felt sorry for the little ones, but the rest of the audience seemed to think their reaction was hilarious.

Anyway, lots of videos of this on YouTube if you cut and paste "なまはげ" (namahage).

@Blair, thanks for the youtube. Interesting. I am not sure if this is a good idea to implant a fear to children. Maybe Namahage need to visit TEPCO executives and J.politicians. :)

the other kids look bored "when can i have back my (3)DS, PSP, etecetera!"

Some children seeing me cry in the same terrified way this little guy cries scared of the scary man.

We got a similar think to the 'Namahage" in europe.

Mostly seen on Dec 6th when St. Nicholaus comes accompanied by Knecht Rupert(with his wooden switch), etc. Good and Bad.

Many traditional festivals also involve devils, demons, endurance, fire, cold, etc

Namahage, Akita prefecture's tradition, seems to be effective for children's study.

According to ranking on the Monka-sho national achievement test, Akita prefecture comes the first in almost all tests.

[Elementary school Japanese A] First:Akita

[Elementary school Japanese B] First Akita

[Elementary school math A] First:Akita

[Elementary school math B] First:Akita

[Junior High school Japanese A] First:Toyama, Second:Akita

[Junior High school Japanese B] First:Akita

[Junior High school math A] First:Fukui, Second:Akita

[Junior High school math B] First:Fukui, Second:Toyama, Third:Akita

(The A test is designed to measure how children acquire knowledge and skills at school)

(The B test is to measure how they apply those knowledge and skills in a certain context)

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20090828a9.html

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%A8%E5%9B%BD%E5%AD%A6%E5%8A%9B%E3%83%BB%E5%AD%A6%E7%BF%92%E7%8A%B6%E6%B3%81%E8%AA%BF%E6%9F%BB

Namahage is more effective than spending a lot of money on Juku.

talking about mask, i wish the lady removed her mask. That's about the only face that could be attractive in the whole pic ( not counting the kids, of course, they are always cute )

0 Good| Bad GurukunJan. 16, 2012 - 12:52PM JST

That's a mask? I thought I saw a guy that looked like that walking across the street last night. ...............................................

That person behind the mask could be a woman.

Mabodofu - Ho!

I remember when my mother brought me to see Santa Claus and I immediately became friendly with him, but he didn't have two clubs in his hand.