A friendly Shiba Inu in Musashi-Koganei, Tokyo greets customers at the Shimada Cigarette Shop, and he is becoming somewhat of a local celebrity.






When customers of Shimada want to buy some cigarettes, they walk up to the counter and press a little chime. When the chime goes off, Shiba (his name, too) opens the sliding glass window with his paw, welcoming them to the shop. As word got around, visitors have been stopping by, sometimes not buying anything, but just to see him and say hello.






After the transaction (Shiba is not able to accept your money or take part in anything other than greeting you), he stays there, re-oping the window even if you close it. That apparently makes it hard to walk away, causing some commuters to miss their trains on the way to work.