In Japan, an ancient celebration now includes pets
Faithful people, dressed in kimonos and tailored belts, took their places inside a sacred Shinto shrine. One by one, they received blessings from a priest and obediently listened to ancient chants. Then they started barking.
It was a Friday morning at the Ichigaya Kamegaoka sanctuary in Tokyo, and a parade of poodles, Pomeranians, Chihuahuas and bichon frises – with names like Latte, Chip and Potapotayaki – were celebrating with their owners a children's festival known as Shichi-Go-San, or 7-5-3.
“Be happy with your owners,” said the shrine's head priest, Kenji Kaji, during the ceremony. “Every day and for a long time.”
For centuries, 7-5-3, which in modern times is celebrated during the fall, has been a rite of passage for Japanese children reaching the ages of 7, 5, and 3, considered milestones in Japan. Now the festival is being revamped to include pets, with dozens of sanctuaries across the country offering blessings to four-legged companions and owners splurging on wigs, charms and custom jackets.
The popularity of 7-5-3 reflects the rise of Japan's pet industry; The animal products market has grown by around a fifth since 2019, to $12 billion, according to some estimates. It is also a sign of Japan's rapidly changing demographics. The country has one of the fertility rates in the world, and the number of children has reached a minimum historical of 13.6 million.
The shrine now welcomes more than 350 pets for 7-5-3 each fall, in front of about 50 children. Shintoism is a faith that worships the spirits found in all objects, both living and inanimate.
Kumiko Kasai, 43, a professional from Tokyo, paid a visit one recent morning with her golden-brown dog, Liz, a pomeranian/poodle mix, who just turned 3. Kasai and her husband, who chose not to have children, spent months planning the ceremony and paid about $200 for a kimono with a gold obi sash for Liz.
“I had great memories of 7-5-3 and I wanted to do the same for my dog,” Kasai said. "A dog's life is not long. And she is part of our family."
The festival dates back to the Heian period of Japanese history, from 794 to 1185. It was originally the way in which noble families celebrated their children's birthdays, at a time when the infant mortality rate was high.
This holiday is still widely celebrated by Japanese parents, who flock to the shrines to show her gratitude to the gods for protecting her children and praying for them to have a long and healthy life.
There are different rituals for each age. Three-year-old boys and girls are recognized because their hair grows for the first time. (In ancient Japan, the head was kept shaved until that age.) Five-year-old children are honored by wearing a haori jacket and hakama, traditional pants worn by samurai. Seven-year-old girls are honored by wearing an obi sash over their kimono. Children feast on chitose ame, or the thousand-year candy, long, pink and white sweets that symbolize longevity.
The decline in the number of children participating in the ceremony has hurt Shinto shrines across Japan. Pets offer an alternative source of income and a way for sanctuaries to remain relevant to younger generations.
Pet-oriented 7-5-3 services have exploded in recent years, with sanctuaries promising to protect pets from accidents and illnesses.
“Pray for your pet,” read a flyer advertising a day-long service in the western prefecture of Fukuoka. “Pray for growth!”
At the Ichigaya Kamegaoka shrine, Kaji charges 5,000 yen, or about $32, to perform the ceremony for pets, the same fee as for children.
The shrine offers a purification ritual, in which a priest waves a wooden wand and sprinkles pieces of white paper on pets as a blessing. After the ceremony, pet owners write prayers on wooden amulets that are hung near the entrance. Many people bring their dogs to and from the sanctuary in strollers.
Maki Narita wrote a blessing for Salt, her 5-year-old Pomeranian, who was wearing a wig and kimono: “May you have a healthy, peaceful and happy dog life.”
Next, Narita and her friends had a photo shoot with their pets on a red carpet.
“It's very important to celebrate, just like it is for a human child,” she said. "I would like to do the same thing I did to my daughter. He is my son."
Priest Kaji has modified the prayers to make them relevant to pets; Ask the gods to protect them from being hit by cars.
He also warns owners about the loud sound of the taiko, a traditional Japanese drum. He occasionally gets bitten by the furry visitors, but he said it was worth it.
“The best thing is that both the owners and the pets live happily,” he said. "The worst thing would be if both Shintoism and the shrines went out of fashion." She has reported from Asia for much of the last decade and was previously China correspondent in Beijing.
Hisako Ueno is a journalist and researcher based in Tokyo, where she writes about Japanese politics, economics, labor, gender and culture.