TSURUTA, Aomori -- A unique national tournament in which bald men pull on a string attached to their foreheads with suction cups was held in Tsuruta, Aomori Prefecture, on Saturday.
Kyuban tsunahiki, or suction-cup tug of war, was originally held at regular gatherings of the Tsuruta town association to cheer up bald men. The association also has held a national tournament every year since 2015, dubbed "the competition to choose the strongest baldie in the country."
The 16 participants in this year's tournament, the event's fourth edition, came from Aomori and other prefectures, including Hokkaido and Tochigi.
The winner is the person whose suction cup stays attached to the forehead. Competitors battled amid the shouts of the referee. The venue was filled with laughter every time spectators heard the pop of a suction cup coming off.
Akio Narita, 82, the association's secretary general, won the tournament for the fourth consecutive year.
"When I was young, I used to feel embarrassed about my hair. But now I can make people laugh with it, and I'm happy. I'll go for a fifth title," he said.
(The competition was launched as a pun on the city name Tsuruta and the Japanese term tsuru tsuru, which describes things that are smooth and shiny, such as bald heads.)
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