The word mizuko (水子), is a term for a dead fetus or, archaically, a dead baby or infant. In the Edo period, when famine sometimes led the poverty-stricken to infanticide and abortion, the practice was adapted to cover these situations as well. It was believed that this ritual would put the mizuko's spirit at rest so that it would not return and reap havoc on the family from which it had been conceived. It was thought that if the spirit was angered it would bring bad crops, infestations of insects or bad health or death onto the mizuko's living siblings.
Today, the practice of mizuko kuyō continues in Japan, although it is unclear whether it is a historically authentic Buddhist practice. Now many temples offer Jizō statues (picture above) for a fee, which are then dressed in red bibs and caps, and displayed in the temple yard. The red bib wearing Mizuko may not be authentic but may offer something for curtain emotional needs of the people who attend the shrines. The picture above is an authentic Mizuko from Hasedera in Nara Prefecture. Note the Lilly and very real bib.
