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Meet the mizuko. In Japanese, a mizuho is a fetus that miscarries or is aborted.
Meet Jizo. Jizo is a bodhisattva, or Buddhist saint, who vows to help mizukos get another chance at life. Jizo has other duties, but in the last few decades, since the advent of abortions on a large scale in Japan, his first is the care of unborn children.
More precisely, Jizo rescues the unborn from their sad. status. Without his help, they won't be able to cross the mythical Sanzu River into the afterlife, from where they can work their way back to earth in a future incarnation. Most Jizo statues show him cradling a baby in his arms, with two others at his feet clinging to his robe.
Jizo meets the needs not only of the unborn but of their parents, especially mothers. According to journalist Peggy Orenstein, about half of Japanese women who abort go through a ritual known as mizuko kuyo, or "ritual of apology and remembrance." So do many who miscarry. Ms. Orenstein, a pro-choice Jew, was on assignment in Japan when she miscarried, and she herself sought out Jizo to deal with the harrowing sorrow that took her by surprise.
Like some American women, some Japanese women who abort find themselves deeply troubled by their decision. What started out as a "regrettable necessity" turns into persistent, sometimes haunting remorse. The...