Why do Japanese people use umbrellas when it’s sunny? Because the sun is fucking hot and painful and shade is good for survival, you morons.
Why do Shinto priests and adherents in the middle of religious ceremonies use umbrellas when it’s sunny? Read the article.
Seriously. The effort of actually trying to pull it off would make me play along with it. But if they weren’t actually sitting on another kid’s shoulders and doing their best to pull it off, I’d probably bust ‘em.