山桜神社の絵馬 "ema" of Yamazakura Shrine

Perhaps you've heard of an ema hanged in shrines and temples in Japan.
Ema, if it is to be translated, is a votive picture tablet.

I'm not sure if this will bring you images of what ema is,
but ema is typically a horse drawn on a piece of wooden plate.
And we write wishes on this plate and hang them in shrines for
the wishes to come true.

Often a horse is drawn on this wooden plate,
because in the old days, real horses were offered or presented to the shrines.
Nowadays, instead of real horses, we offer these ema
with a picture of a horse on it and make wishes.

In Takayama, we have a different kind of ema,
a horse is drawn on a Japanese paper, washi, instead of a wooden plate.

These ema can be purchased at "Yamazakura Shrine" located near the
old town area.  The price is shown in an old currency unit ryo instead of yen.
And they can be purchased only from August 1st till the 15th.

The other unique point is that you take the paper ema home
and place them on the wall of the entrance facing the horse's head inwards
wishing all the happiness and good fortunes to enter the house.

We bought our own ema, have our name written on it,
and have placed it in the entrance last week.

Are we becoming more Takayamans?
We hope so!!

高山の古い町並み近くにある
「山桜神社」では、
よくある木製の絵馬ではなく
紙（和紙）の絵馬が
８月１日～１５日の期間限定で販売されます。

面白いことに、絵馬は
「両」で取引されます。

我が家が購入した絵馬は
「1500万両」でした　笑。

幸運が家に駆けこんでくるように
馬の頭を家の中に向けて玄関に飾ります。

また一歩「高山人」に近づけたかな、
そうだといいな。