How much is that doggie?

We visited Kotohira today, a town famous for its Konpira San shrine which celebrates the deity of seafarers. It was a steep climb up 785 steps to reach the shrine.

This is a memorial to pilgrim dogs. In the past the shrine's reputation for protecting against evil was so widespread that many people wanted to make the pilgrimage there but couldn't afford the time or the money to travel. So they tied money in pouches around the necks of dogs and threw them in the sea in the hope that passing sailors would rescue them and take the money to Konpira. I wouldn't put odds on either the dogs surviving or the money making it to the shrine. I haven't told Rufus this story as he hates swimming.