Lecture 1994-12-19 (Special):

Family Planning, Abortion and the Buddhist Cult of Jizoh

Prof. R.J. Zwi Werblowsky

The Dutch Ambassador, Mr. Roland van den Berg, invited members to a special meeting held at his residence to give them a chance to hear his house guest, Professor R.J. Zwi Werblowsky. The lecture was arranged at very short notice to take advantage of the presence in Japan of this eminent scholar from Israel, and was announced at the regular December meeting and through the newspapers.

Professor Werblowsky began by saying that in his study of new religions he had now found a new one in Japan that cut horizontally across all segments of society - that of "mizuko kuyoh", the placation of the souls of aborted babies. Unlike many other nations, Japan is not concerned about a population explosion, but rather has to face the problem of having a dwindling working force supporting an aging population. The statistics showed that after a steady growth in the population from 55 million in 1920 to 117 million in 1980, there had been a marked falling off in the rate, to 121 million in 1985, 123 million in 1990, and 124 million in 1991. And this was in spite of the fact that, of the two million live births in 1920, there were 335,000 infant deaths, whereas in 1991 there were only 5,000 infant deaths out of one million live births.

The decline in the birth rate is a clear reflection of family planning, which in Japan takes a different form from that found in other developed nations. In most countries, contraception is the rule, now based mainly on the use of the "pill", but in Japan abortion is the usual method. (Speaking personally, Professor Werblowsky said that he considered the former the more moral method, and added that his comments on Japanese practice must necessarily be subjectively coloured.) The prevalence of abortions, of which some women might have four or five, was due to the fact that the medical "mafia" had brain-washed the authorities into banning importation of the pill as being dangerous. There was also an alarming increase in abortions by college and high school girls, pointing to a lack of sexual education. In this connection, he felt that the number of abortions showing up in the official statistics probably only represented 10-20 percent of the true number. Thus, whereas the number of spontaneous fetal deaths (miscarriages, stillbirths) had fallen to 22,000 in 1991 from 100,000 in 1950, the artificially induced deaths were reported as 110,000 in 1950 and 30,000 in 1991, though in his view the latter figure should probably come out as something closer to 200,000.

Where did religion come into the picture? Professor Werblowsky had noted the recent affluence of the Buddhist temples as seen in the widespread rebuilding taking place. Where did they get their money from? It could not be simply from performing funerals, which was the traditional source of income. The answer lay in the recent upsurge in the performance of "kuyoh" (ceremonies for the repose of a soul) for aborted fetuses. (Traditional forms of "kuyoh" are the "hashi kuyoh" and "hari kuyoh" for old chopsticks and needles which are thrown away.) According to Buddhist belief, the soul goes to "jigoku" after death. This is usually translated as 'hell', but is in fact a 'purgatory', as the soul only stays there until it is reincarnated (which may be a long time, if a lot of purging is needed'). But there are also restless, wandering souls who cannot be reborn, and these become vengeful spirits, who are believed to bring misfortune upon the living. An early example of this in Japanese history was Sugawara Michizane, who was exiled to Kyushu by the Fujiwara family who dominated the throne. When Kyoto was struck by a series of disasters, these were ascribed to his soul and a "kuyoh" was performed to pacify his spirit (and he was elevated to a "kami", whereupon the disasters ceased. The aborted embryos and fetuses, known as "mizuko", are supposed to be similar wandering souls who will turn vengeful. The old temple registers have records of "kuyoh" performed for "mizuko" and at first Professor Werblowsky thought he had found evidence of the antiquity of abortions in Japan. But a closer inspection revealed that the word "mizuko" was used in the old days to mean any child dying young (including the stillborn); it is only since 1960 that it has acquired its present limited meaning.

Under the "yuusei hogo hoh" (eugenic protection act) abortions are not illegal in Japan, and in fact you find doctors advertising them. So also temples now advertise "mizuko kuyoh", as a means of preventing illness and misfortune striking the family. It is a kind of psychological blackmail, preying on innumerable unfortunate women who have been traumatized by having abortions, and it is giving temples a bad name for profiteering. Another modern phenomenon is the erection of Jizoh statues for aborted fetuses. Jizoh is the bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, who is the guardian of children ("kosodate Jizoh"), and also saves the wandering souls of the "mizuko". Many Jizoh statues can be seen in the Zohjohji, for example, and until ten years ago there were many "kosodate Jizoh" banners, but these have now been taken away, as Jizoh is now specifically identified as the saviour of aborted embryos and fetuses. The traditional form of statue shows Jizoh with a staff in one hand and a jewel in the other, but Professor Werblowsky had made the interesting discovery that in several temples there were now pictures and statues of Jizoh holding a uterus containing an embryo instead of a jewel. The number of reported abortions was going down, which might perhaps point to a greater use of contraception. But judging from the number of Jizoh statues and the medical advertising Professor Werblowsky supposed that recourse to abortion was still disturbingly prevalent.