Japanese Prayer Board Ema Ancient Battle Myth & Legend Start Price USD 9.99 Current Price USD 9.99 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Sunday, September 07, 2008 End Time Sunday, September 14, 2008 Location San Francisco East Bay Area See more about 'Japanese Prayer Board Ema Ancient Battle Myth & Legend' Description Japanese Prayer Board Ema Ancient Battle Myth & Legend IMPORTANT NOTES Please know that items purchased from us will be shipped direct from California. Your item will arrive much sooner and the shipping cost will be far less than items being shipped direct from Japan. Take advantage of our combined shipping to save even more! DETAILS OF ITEM This piece measures 3.75" high and 6" wide at the widest point. Ema, which means a picture of a horse in Japanese, was originally that, a wooden board with a painted picture of a horse. People wrote their wishes and prayers on the Ema and presented it to the shrine or the temple. Although in the beginning people presented actual horses when they made a wish, over the years people came to present pictures of horses instead. Today, Ema with other motifs are often used to make wishes as well. The inscription reads "Nasu Onsen Jinjya - Nasu hot spring Shinto shrine" of Tochigi Prefecture Japan and it is known as the place when Nasu no Yoichi came to pray before he went to the Genpei War. They claim that his prayer had been answered that had helped to create his legend during the battle. Nasu no Yoichi (1169 - 1232) was a samurai who fought alongside the Minamoto clan in the Genpei War. He is particularly famous for his actions at the Battle of Yashima in 1184. According to the Heike Monogatari (The Tale of the Heike), the enemy Taira placed a fan atop the mast of one of their ships, claiming it protected the ship from arrows, and daring the Minamoto warriors to shoot it off. Sitting atop his mount in the waves, his target atop the ship rocking as well, Yoichi nevertheless shot it down with only one shot. The Tale of the Heike is an epic account of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180-1185). After the Genpei War, Yoichi was made Daimyo lord of Tottori Castle, but eventually became a Buddhist monk in the Jodo sect following the death of Minamoto no Yoritomo, his master, and spent the rest of his days praying and honoring those who died in the Genpei War. The condition is very good and its age is from the 1980's. PLEASE VISIT MY EBAY STORE BY CLICKING THE LINK ABOVE TO EASILY BROWSE BY CATEGORY ALL OF THE OTHER JAPANESE ANTIQUES AND COLLECTIBLES THAT ARE UP FOR AUCTION THIS WEEK. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, PLEASE BOOKMARK OUR AUCTIONS TO EASILY FIND US. THANKS FOR VIEWING THIS AUCTION. A FEW IMPORTANT NOTES: If you have any questions concerning this or other items we have up for auction, please don't hesitate to email me for an answer. We will do our best to email you a reply within one day. It is best to get your questions in early since we may not be available to respond to you within minutes or hours of the auction end. Of course, we will try to reply if it is possible. For all of those who wish to combine items, please email me to let me know of your intent and I will email you confirming this. This allows us to keep your winning items aside until you are ready to finalize your purchases. Items can only be combined for a two week period starting with the earliest winning item marking the beginning of the period. California residents will be charged a sales tax of 8.75% unless a valid California resale card is on file with us. Pay me securely with any major credit card through PayPal! Click Images to Enlarge Paypal, Money order or cashier's check allows fast shipping. Personal checks wait 10 days. Thanks for looking and best of luck with your bid!Buyer pays actual shipping. Your item will be shipped domestically using either USPS priority mail, USPS first class mail or UPS ground service. The one limitation with UPS is that they only ship to a physical address not to a US Postal PO Box address. On rare occasions we would use Fedex ground or a Blanket Wrap service for very large furniture pieces. We will insure your packages ONLY AS AN OPTION ON REQUEST for the exact additional cost of insurance. In addition to the actual USPS or UPS shipping cost, we charge a very small handling fee of about 35 cents for domestic shipping and $1.00 for international shipping to cover packaging costs and in the case of international shipping, the additional paperwork and customs forms needed. Though we are not out to make a profit on our shipping, we would like to cover our packaging materials and transportation costs to the post office. With this said, please know that you will be getting the most cost effective speedy service that we may provide.For our INTERNATIONAL clients, we ONLY use Global Express Mail Service (EMS)that provides tracking and limited insurance. Any other shipping service must be agreed to in plenty of time before the auction ends. Affordable Auction Management and Image Hosting Solutions @ inkFrog Place a Bid!