Mizuko kuyo

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Mizuko kuyo

is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
ese ceremony for those who have had a miscarriage

Miscarriage

Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation....
, stillbirth

Stillbirth

A stillbirth occurs when a fetus which has death in the uterus or during labor or childbirth, while exiting a woman's human body. The term is often used in distinction to live birth or miscarriage....
, or abortion

Abortion

An abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death....
. This practice has become particularly visible since the 1970s with the creation of shrines devoted solely to this ritual. Reasons for the performance of these rites can include parental grief, desire to comfort the soul of the fetus

Fetus

A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate, after the embryonic stage and before childbirth. The plural is fetuses, or sometimes feti....
, or even fear of retribution from the vengeful spirit.

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is a Japan

Japan

Miscarriage

Stillbirth

Abortion

Fetus

Offering

Offering may refer to:*Offering, a collection of donations during religious worship, see alms, tithe or Charity *Offering, a religious sacrifice of plant, animal or human life...
s to Jizo

Ksitigarbha

is a bodhisattva primarily revered in East Asian Buddhism, usually depicted as a Bhikkhu in the Orient. The name may be translated as "Earth Treasury", "Earth Store", "Earth Matrix", or "Earth Womb." is known for his vow not to achieve Buddhahood until all hells are emptied; therefore, he is regarded as the bodhisattva of hell beings....
, a Bodhisattva

Bodhisattva

In the Buddhist context, a bodhisattva means either "enlightened existence " or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment "....
who is believed to protect children. In the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of History of Japan running from 1603 to 1868. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu....
, when famine

Famine

A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any faunal species, which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased death....
sometimes led the poverty-stricken to infanticide

Infanticide

Infanticide is the practice of someone intentionally causing the death of an infant. Often it is the mother who commits the act, but criminology recognizes various forms of non-maternal child murder....
and abortion

Abortion

An abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death....
, the practice was adapted to cover these situations as well. Today, the practice of mizuko kuyo continues in Japan, although it is unclear whether it is a historically-authentic Buddhist

Buddhism in Japan

The history of Buddhism in Japan can be roughly divided into three periods, namely the Nara period , the Heian Period and the post-Heian period ....
practice. Specifics of the ceremony vary from temple to temple, school

Schools of Buddhism

Schools of Buddhism are classified in various ways. Normal English-language usage divides Buddhism into Theravada and Mahayana. The most common classification among scholars is threefold, with Mahayana split into East Asian and Vajrayana, or Tibetan Buddhism ....
to school, and individual to individual. It is common for temples

List of Buddhist temples

Buddhist temples, Monastery, stupas, and pagodas sorted by location....
to offer Jizo statues for a fee, which are then dressed in red bibs and caps, and displayed in the temple yard. Some modern services have come under criticism for allegedly abusing the Japanese belief that the spirits of the dead retaliate for their mistreatment.

Mizuko kuyo

See also

Further reading