Japan's strange custom of "water worship"

Shuizi originally refers to babies who die shortly after birth. Because there is no time to name them, they are all called Shuizi, meaning children who flow away like water. People generally do not hold funerals for such babies, and most of them find a place to bury them. Nowadays, water seeds mostly refer to fetuses that die due to abortion, dystocia and abortion.

According to surveys, Japan's childcare costs are high, and many couples do not want children after marriage, which has made society's fertility increasingly serious. Most people who become pregnant after having sex before marriage choose abortion, which has made the number of women undergoing abortions in Japan increasingly younger. At least 6000 people now undergo abortions every day. Moreover, according to statistics, 40% of married women now have had abortion, which has attracted widespread attention in Japanese society.

Monks at the Japanese temple of Suizo Nagu Tomb said that because fetuses have the possibility of becoming human beings, souls should be worshipped like dead adults. They hope that people will pay attention to Suizo and worship them so that they can transcend as soon as possible.

Since the 1970s, many temples have established cemeteries dedicated to water seeds. After the mourner made a request for worship, the monk asked about the address, death date, etc., and then gave the water a Buddhist name according to the mourner's wishes. Most of the Buddhist names are called so-and-so water. A few words are taken from Buddhist classics or parents 'names, and the names are given based on the current season, such as spring dream, summer cloud, autumn dew, and snow elimination. If you don't give a Dharma name, just call it the spirit of a certain water child. Then, the mourner purchased a stone statue and offered the sacrifice. The monks began to chant sutras and finally placed the water stone statue next to Ksitigarbha or Guanyin Bodhisattva.

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Water Zi Sacrifice to Zheng Water Zi Sacrifice is certainly not free. Most temples do not have clear charging standards, so the mourner can handle it at his discretion. Most mourners give appropriate alms according to their own circumstances, most of which range from 3000 yen to 10,000 yen (approximately RMB 200-700). Some people themselves do not go through temples, but build a small shrine near their homes and in streets and alleys, and invite a small Buddha statue to worship water.

The statue of Shuizi can be seen in many temples in Japan. There are one or a few places, and there are thousands or even tens of thousands of them. They are crowded together and the scene is sinister. Every day, old women or young women come to the statue to burn incense and light candles, and sacrifice and lay flowers. This is Japan's unique and strange water worship.