Dogs don kimonos, receive blessings in place of children in aging Japan

Shinto priest Yoshinori Hiraga conducts a prayer for pet dogs during a Shichi-Go-San blessing, traditionally performed for young children to ask for health and happiness, at the Inuneko Shrine, part of a larger Shinto site Zama Shrine in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, Japan. - Reuters

ZAMA (Reuters): A traditional ceremony for children is catching on among pet owners in Japan, where dogs and cats are receiving ever more attention amid the nation's plummeting birth rates.

Natsuki Aoki took her two Chihuahuas on a plane ride to Tokyo from the western city of Hiroshima so her fur babies could get a special blessing.