Ema boards: A glimpse of the prayers people make

Prayer boards are a window into the souls of people who visit shrines -- sometimes funny, sometimes revealing, always enlightening

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Ema boards are the small wooden plaques ubiquitously present at Shinto shrines that people use to communicate their hopes and dreams to the Gods. Anyone can acquire one for a nominal donation of ¥500-600, scrawl their wishes, requests or contemplations on one side and leave it to hang for the gods (and us) to peruse.

The most common prayers are for health, luck in finding marriage partners and even for passing exams. But poking through the ema hanging is a pleasure precisely because of what they reveal: given anonymity and a pen, there's no limit to the sorts of appeals people make to the heavens. And manga-style art is becoming a bigger part of the ema board culture too.

The following were photographed at temples across Japan.

A quintet of kappa are graced with a simple request: "Let something good happen to me. Signed, K."

"Love is all," declares this ema. Is the illustration intended to be a self-portrait or a brand logo?

"I'm already happy, thanks," reports this ema written in a child's hand. Ah, youth.

Let us know how that request works out for you, Joe Singapore.

What better way to attract the attention of the gods than with some cute anime characters? This is Japan, after all.

"Please let a miracle happen this year... Oh, and please keep pickpockets away from me while I'm in Italy," requests the author of this ema. At center, a happy tiger roars in agreement.

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Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt run AltJapan Co., Ltd., a Tokyo-based entertainment localization company that specializes in video games, comic books and other pop culture. They are the co-authors of "Hello, Please! Very Helpful Super Kawaii Characters From Japan" (2007, Chronicle) and "Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide" (2008, Kodansha International).