Jizō Bosatsu is the special protector of mizuko — the spirits of children who died before their parents. He rescues them from Sai no Kawara, sheltering them in his robes from the oni who destroy their stone towers.
Oni demons torment the spirits of mizuko at Sai no Kawara, smashing the small stone towers the children build to earn merit for their grieving parents, trapping them in an endless cycle of futile labor and cruelty.
The spirits of mizuko are bound to Sai no Kawara, the dry riverbed at the edge of the underworld, where they stack small stones into towers in a futile attempt to earn merit for their grieving parents while demons knock them down.
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