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.
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