On Monday, April 6, we got up early and took the train from our hotel in Hikare to the old capital city of Japan, Nara. From the Nara train station we walked the 2.5 kms to Nara Park. These prayer boards are called ema in Japan where they are traditionally used by believers to communicate their wishes and thanks to deities worshiped at Shinto shrines. To use an ema the believer must first make or, more commonly, buy an ema from a Shinto shrine. The believer then writes his prayer onto the board and brings it to the shrine to be hung upon a special rack set out for this purpose. Ema remain very popular in Japan where they are used by believers during every stage of life; from the student praying for success in schools exams, to young married couples hoping for children as well as the elderly offering thanks for a full and blessed life.