Kimono-clad pets blessed at Tokyo festival as Japan's child numbers fall

At a Tokyo Shinto shrine, a priest blessed cats, a shiba inu and Yorkshire terriers dressed in kimonos during Shichi-Go-San, a festival traditionally celebrating children aged seven, five and three. With Japan's population shrinking, more owners now bring pets instead. One doctor spent two months hand-making a red kimono for her five-year-old British shorthair, calling the cat her child.