Face of a Mizuko

This is a statue of a mizuko. In Japanese tradition, mizuko are the souls of children who were miscarried, stillborn or aborted. Legend has it that because they died without doing any good deeds, they are unable to cross the Sanzu river to enter the afterlife. The fact that they have made their parents suffer is also something they have to pay penance for, so they are sentenced to an eternity of piling rocks on the banks of the river. Being punished for being born dead seems rather extreme and unfair even by Japanese standards, so you may be happy to learn that there is a special deity named Jizo whose job it is to look after these unfortunate lost souls. You will find statues of him surrounded by tiny statues of children (the mizuko) in the grounds of many temples in Japan. The mizuko wear distinctive red bibs and hats. At the temple at which I took this picture, the mizuko were all wearing little crocheted outfits. This one's had almost rotted off him, so I hope that someone will soon be making him another.