PRIVACY WORRIES OVER 'EMA' WISHES AND PRAYERS神社の絵馬もプライバシー保護

The issue of privacy is in the spotlight at Shinto shrines in Japan, where visitors write wishes and prayers on small wooden tablets called ema.

Recently, some people have started covering their ema with stickers to hide their names and messages.

Some of the roughly 300 ema tablets at Nishinomiya Shrine in Hyogo Prefecture are covered with stickers. 

The shrine doesn't sell stickers, so the people who wrote on the tablets must have brought them.

Another shrine is preserving privacy in a different way.

It's using small pouches instead of stickers. The shrine started offering the pouches four years ago. 

In the age of social media, people are increasingly worried that their secret wishes will be leaked.

◆poche　小袋、ポーチ   

◆leak（液体や気体が）漏れる、（パイプなどが）水漏れする」という意味ですが、そこから転じて「（情報が）漏れる、漏えいする