The countless small wooden tablets swaying at a shrine's ema rack carry prayers in brushwork — exam success, good marriage, recovery from illness. Ema trace back to the ancient ritual of offering live horses, which ordinary people gradually replaced with horses painted on boards. Originating at Kifune Shrine in Kyoto, the custom developed into large votive paintings in the Nara and Heian periods and spread nationwide alongside Tenjin worship in the Edo era.

Takaokami-no-Kami is a dragon deity ruling the waters of mountain peaks and rainfall, enshrined at Kifune Shrines and Niukawakami Shrines across Japan. This guide explores the water fortune-telling ritual, the origin of ema votive plaques, and how Kyoto's Kifune Shrine became the foremost sanctuary for prayers of love and marriage.