Narratives of sorrow and dignity: Japanese women, pregnancy loss, and modern rituals of grieving

Abstract

PREFACE PART ONE: Approaching the Worlds of Mizuko 1. Mizuko Kuyo: Memorial Services for Child Loss in Japan 2. Architectural, Iconographic, Doctrinal Features of Mizuko Kuyo 3. Situating the Rites of Mourning: Two Temples and a Variety of Visitors 4. The Phenomena of Mizuko Kuyo: Responses to Pregnancy Loss PART TWO: Deciphering the Worlds of Pregnancy Loss: Women, Men, and the Unborn 5. Japanese Woman as Housewife, Mother, and Worker: Patterns of Change and Continuity (1868-2010) 6. Ancestors, Angry Spirits, and the Unborn: Caring for the Dead on the Path to Ancestorhood 7. Mothers, Society, and Pregnancy Loss: Rethinking the Meaning of Nurture PART THREE: Relating Mizuko Rei to the Larger Worlds of Profound Loss 8. The Revival of Death, the Rebirth of Grieving, and Ways of Mourning 9. Rituals of Affliction An Invitation to Sobriety APPENDICES: 1. Adashino Nenbutsuji, English language text of Mizuko kuyo service 2. Yvonne Rand, Jizo: Protector of Travelers into and out of Life 3. Sai-no-kawara text, tr. of Manabe Kosai. Jizo-bosatsu no kenkyu [Research on Jizo Bodhisattva]. Kyoto: Sanmitsudo shoten, 1960. 4. Yasuo Sakakibara, Economic Development and Temple Economics in Japan NOTES GLOSSARY BIBLIOGRAPHY NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INDEX