Mongolian blue spot

Until today, I’d never seen a naked Japanese baby.
But we were invited to dinner at a friends’ house this evening and got an entertaining bonus–admission to the daily bath. Our friends’ son is such a cutie and so patient as his mama washed his hair and baba held his legs. Junior thinks he’s swimming in his tub and kicks like crazy.
And I learned something interesting from this bathing 6-month old. Many Japanese babies are born with a blue birthmark in the “sacral region.” It looks like an ink blot or a dark bruise. But it’s not a bruise and it fades with a few years. His is just at the end of the tailbone.
Apparently this Mongolian Blue Spot is a genetic marker traced back to the Mongols and it appears not only in most Asian races, but also Turks, Greeks, Africans, Eskimos and Native Americans.
I’ve uncovered two folk explanations for the spots. The Mongols say they are the mark left by the spirit who slaps the baby to life. Chinese believe that if you are reluctant to be reincarnated, the King of Hell prods and kicks you until you agree to go. The more spots, the more reluctant you were to be reborn.