Jizos

Jizo is the protector of women and children. He is thought of as the emanation of nurturing and protective compassion for beings as they travel into and out of life. He is also said to go to the hell realms, the difficult times in life, to rescue beings from suffering. In contemporary Japan and in some places in America, he is an important part of a ceremony for babies who have died before birth. The ceremony honors the spirit of the child and gives parents a ritualized form for expression of their grief.