When parents lose a child, there are rituals to mark their grief -- holding
funerals, sitting shiva, bringing casseroles. But when that loss happens before
birth, it often isn't marked. Sometimes, it's barely even mentioned. It's
different in Japan, which has a traditional Buddhist ceremony that some US
Americans are adopting as their own. Called 'mizuko kuyo', which could be
translated to 'water baby memorial service', this ritual originated in Japan
post WWII, and draws on the idea that life is like water, a fluid resource with
no beginning or end.
This NPR piece shares more.
