Another type of memorial service for foetuses involves the use of ema . Ema are wooden plaques, often with roof-shaped tops, that are hung by string in special areas of temples and shrines. Many ema carry prayers for, and messages to, aborted foetuses. The oldest form of memorial is maintained by women in communities, who tend to jizo shrines on street corners and roadsides. Women passing them can stop for a short act of kuyo , or simply bow to the jizo .
Women can also perform the mizuko kuyo at home, in front of their ancestral shrines.
First they buy a kaimyo from a priest, who will write the name on an ihai , a mortuary tablet. The tablet is then placed in the ancestral alcove of the family, and given memorial services along with other ancestors. The foetus will be honoured with reverential bows, and, in pious Buddhist homes, a prayer will be recited. This prayer, perhaps the Heart Sutra , the Kannon Sutra , or the Lotus Sutra , is made to both jizo and the foetus at the same time. Some Buddhists worry that abortions could become trivialized, which would lead to a hardening of people's hearts.