Fur-mous rites of passage

Kana and Risa Matsuki holding their Chihuahua-dachshund mix dogs – Happy, five, and Oreo, three – as the shrine’s chief priest, Kaji, chants a blessing at Kamegaoka Hachiman Shrine in Tokyo. — Kentaro Takahashi/The New York Times

THE worshippers, dressed in kimonos and bespoke belts, took their places inside a sacred Shinto shrine.

One by one, they received blessings from a priest and listened obediently to ancient chants. Then they began to bark.