More than 2,000 school children in Japan have set a new Guiness World Record for playing the largest game of Daruma-san ga koronda, similar to that old schoolhouse staple, 'red light, green light.'
Two thousand thirty-nine students from grades one through nine in Ibaraki Prefecture challenged the Guinness World Record Dec. 19, last broken in 2015 with just 740 people.
About five minutes into the game, the students were told that they officially set the world record. A Guinness World Records representative confirmed the new record.
In the game, one person is "it." To start the game, that person says, "Daruma-san ga koronda." There are 10 syllables in the sentence, which means, "The daruma doll fell over."
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A Daruma doll is a traditional hollow, round, Japanese doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen tradition of Buddhism.
For the other players, the object of the game is to get close to whoever is "it" without him seeing them move.
The year nine student who came up with the idea said he hoped the win would teach students to take on challenging things and not get discouraged.
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The attempt was also a way for the school to come together one more time before it is split into two schools next April as its population has surged.
