English Version
English Version
This happened a little while ago. My wife and I have two children: a son in first grade and a daughter in preschool. Our son had just turned six and started elementary school. He had gotten used to his new routine and seemed to be enjoying every day.
But then, starting on a certain day, something strange began to happen.
Only when he was going to or coming from elementary school, our son would suddenly start crying—sometimes sobbing uncontrollably.
At first, we wondered if he simply did not want to go to school, or if he was being bullied. But every day, when he came home, he would say things like, “School was fun today!”
It did not feel like he hated school, and it did not seem as though he was being bullied.
In the mornings, my wife would see him off as he joined the group of children walking to school together. But only at that moment, he would begin to cry and act as if he did not want to go. He would turn around again and again, looking back at my wife through his tears as he kept walking.
I went out to see him off too, but by then this had already been going on for a full week.
Every day, after he came home, we asked him about school. He would only say things like, “School was fun,” and “I love school lunch!”
So my wife asked him, “Then why do you cry in the morning and say you don’t want to go to school?”
But our son seemed to have no memory of what happened in the morning.
He cried that hard every day on the way to school—and he did not remember it?
My wife and I began to wonder if something else, some kind of force we could not see, might be involved. We talked it over and decided that perhaps we needed something like a purification ritual.
We told my wife’s mother what had been happening. She said there was a well-known prayer woman living in the next town.
My wife’s family home was about an hour from ours, so a few days later, my wife and her mother went to visit this woman. I could not leave work, so all I could do was wait for their report.
The Prayer Woman’s Message
When my wife and mother-in-law came back and told me what happened, I was stunned.
The prayer woman was apparently famous in our area. She was an elderly woman, perhaps around 70 to 80 years old. From what I was told, she would pass on messages—almost like revelations—from a god, or perhaps from ancestors. People of all ages, men and women alike, came to consult her when they had troubles they could not solve.
When my wife told her about our son, the woman said:
“Oh, this needs an offering on the household altar. The baby who was never born is jealous.”
According to the prayer woman, the cause of our son’s mysterious crying was the spirit of a baby my wife had miscarried in the past.
She said that the baby, who never had the chance to be born into this world, was playing tricks on our son—the child who had been born and was now going to elementary school. The baby was jealous that he was loved by my wife.
Of course, ordinary people like us could never have discovered such a cause on our own.
We never imagined it might be the work of a mizuko spirit—a spirit connected to a child lost before birth.
My wife and I immediately prepared a kamidana, a small household Shinto altar, and began making offerings. When our son ate, we placed rice on the altar as well.
We also explained the reason properly to our son and our preschool-age daughter.
My wife told them, “There was a baby who couldn’t be born. If he had been born, he would have been your older brother. So we give him rice.”
My wife, who had experienced the miscarriage, had apparently even thought of a boy’s name back then. So in our family, we decided to call him their older brother.
What Happened After the Offerings
A few days after we began placing offerings on the kamidana, something strange happened.
Our son’s crying stopped completely.
He joined the walking group with a smile and went off to school as if nothing had ever happened.
My wife and I watched him go, and only then did we realize it.
“Wait… he didn’t cry today.”
“Ah… you’re right. He really didn’t.”
We looked at each other in surprise.
After that, our son never cried during his morning walk to school again.
Of course, even now, years later, we still continue to place offerings on the kamidana.
These days, even the children ask us, “Did you give our older brother his rice?”
Japanese Language
泣きじゃくる息子の現象が一週間も続く。少し前のことです。私と妻には小学一年生の息子と保育園に通う娘がいます。息子は6歳になり、小学校へ入学。学校にも慣れ、毎日を。楽しく過ごしていたのですが…。ある日を境に、 息子が小学校へ通う登下校の時だけ、泣き出す・泣きじゃくる、 。そんな現象 が起こりはじめました。はじめは、学校に行きたくない・いじめられているのか…と勘繰ったものですが。息子が学校から帰ると、。「今日も学校、楽しかった！」と話す毎日。
。。どうも、学校が嫌いとか、いじめられている感じではないのです。。朝、登校時間になると、妻が登校班に加わる息子を見送るのですが…。この時だけ、息子が泣きはじめ…学校に行きたがらないそぶりを見せる のです。何度も、妻を振り返り、泣きながらこちらを見ては、登校するといった具合です。私も息子を見送りに出てみましたが、この状態がすでに一週間経過していました。毎日、息子が学校から帰ると、学校の様子を尋ねるのですが、息子は。「学校が楽しかった、給食が大好き！
」 そんなことを話すばかり。妻が、。「じゃ、なんで朝、学校行きたくない！って言って泣くの？」 と。尋ねると、 息子は…朝のことは覚えていない ようなのです。あんなに泣きじゃくって、毎日登校することを覚えていない…？。妻と私は、 この現象は、ひょっとすると、何か別のチカラが作用しているのでは 。と話し合い、お祓いのようなことが必要かもしれない！という結論に達しました。早速、妻の母に、現在の状況を伝えると、有名な祈祷師さんが隣町に住んで。いるという話をしてくれました。
妻の実家も、私の家から1時間ほどで行けるため、後日。妻と義理の母で、祈祷師さんを訪ねることになりました。私は仕事が抜けられないため、その報告を待つのみです。「あら、これは神棚にお供えしないとねぇ…」。。祈祷師さんを訪ねた妻と義理の母の報告を聞いてビックリ！。この祈祷師さんは、私の住む地域で有名な方で、70～80歳くらいの女性です。お告げ、というか神様（若しくはご先祖様）から降りてきた声をそのまま伝える、そんな感じで。何かしら困りごとがあると、相談に来る方が、両若男女問わず多いそうです。
妻が息子の件を祈祷師さんに話すと。「あら、これは神棚にお供えしないとねぇ… 。あなたの生まれなかった赤ちゃんが、やきもちを焼いているわよ」 。なんと！これまで原因不明の息子の泣きじゃくる現象は。かつて、妻が流産した赤ちゃんの仕業だったようです。祈祷師さんのお話によると、この世に生まれることが叶わなかった。赤ちゃんが、生まれて小学校に通っている息子にいたずらをしている…。妻に愛されていることに、やきもちを焼いていると…。私たち一般人には到底、原因を突き詰めることなんて出来るハズもありません。
まさか、流産した赤ちゃん、水子の霊の仕業だったなんて…。私たち夫婦は、すぐに神棚を準備し、お供え物をあげるようにしました。息子がご飯を食べるときは、神棚にご飯。そして、息子と保育園に通う娘にも。理由をキチンと伝えました。妻は子どもたちに。「生まれてこれなかった赤ちゃんがいたの、だから生まれていたら 。あなたたちの、お兄ちゃん。だからご飯をあげるの」 。流産経験のある妻は、男の子の名前まで考えていたようなので、お兄ちゃんということに。不思議なことが起こりました…。
神棚にお供え物をして、数日後…。不思議なことが起こりました。なんと、息子の泣きじゃくる現象がピタリと止まったのです。息子は、ニコニコしながら、登校班に加わり、登校していきます。私と妻は息子を見送りながら、遅まきながら気づいたものです、。「あれ？今日…泣かなかった！」 。「…はっ、ほ、本当だ！」 。そんな会話をして、お互いの顔を見合ったものです。これ以降、息子が朝の登校時に泣くことはありませんでした。もちろん、神棚のお供え物は、数年たった今でも、あげるようにしています。
子どもたちも、今では。「上のお兄ちゃんのご飯あげた？」と聞いてくれますから
