Mizuko kuyō, o il transito della presenza

Since the 80s, the Mizuko kuyō has become one of the most widespread rituals in Japan. Performed by women who, after abortion, seek to relate their-self with the vengeful spirit of the fetus, this ritual is a very recent phenomenon, nevertheless historically rooted and integrated into Japanese Buddhism. The concept of presence, developed by Ernesto de Martino, and the paradigm of embodiment allow us to reflect on Mizuko kuyō as a critical moment for motherhood and the cultural construction of the person. The first part of the article describes an overview of Japanese ritual, highlighting the relations between biopolitics and gender dynamics, along with the principal historical and religious coordinates of the Japanese society. The second part analyzes the structural and transformative link between abortion, embodied suffering, and the ritual, in which the presence of Mizuko is re-oriented. The marginal and violent presence of the fetus is addressed to a physical and symbolic simulacrum, where the mother can find a new place to rebuild the relation previously destroyed by the abortion.