Mizuko Kuyo: A Unique Japanese Grieving Ritual

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October 3, 2021

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So it's true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love

- E.A. Bucchianeri -

Mizuko Kuyo: A Unique Japanese Grieving Ritual

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. { read more }

Submitted by: Gayathri Ramachandran

Be The Change

What rituals could you gently adapt/adopt to grieve what has been lost in your life? While you contemplate this, here is a poem by Barbara Crooker that evokes the raw tenderness of irreplaceable losses { more }

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