“People have moved from having children to owning pets,” says 51-year-old Japanese man Miki Toguchi as he takes his pet to the Ichigaya Kamegaoka Shinto shrine in Tokyo, where services are offered for children and dogs.
The traditional liturgy of 7-5-3 – a celebration meant to bless boys and girls of that age – now welcomes more dogs than people. The dogs arrive in very expensive $200 kimonos and embellished belts (and pay $32 more for the service). There they pray for them: so that they have a happy life as dogs and that they don’t get hit by a car.
Shintoism is an animistic religion that reveres all of nature and has no problem considering every living being a participant in the cult. The controversy revolves around family. And about the beliefs of these Japanese pet owners who claim: “My dog is like a son.” When that “how” disappears, we find ourselves in the middle of a larger discussion.
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This phenomenon is due to two problems affecting Japanese society: the decline in the birth rate and the ever-increasing market for pet services. The temple decided to adapt to this reality and every fall welcomes a parade of poodles, Pomeranians and Chihuahuas seeking blessings.
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