Shinto elders at the centuries-old Unesco World Heritage Site of Shimogamo Shrine upset neighbors when they bulldozed a swath of old Kyoto forest to build an apartment complex with units selling for more than $2 million apiece.
"They should call it the Shimogamo Corporation," says one angry parishioner, Akira Hitomi.
Skepticism of religion is common enough in Japan that there's a saying, "If you want to get rich, become a priest."
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