Kifune-jinja in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto is the headquarters for around 500 other Kifune shrines located across the country. Built some 1,600 years ago, the shrine takes pride in its long history and prestige. Legend has it that the goddess Tamayori-hime appeared on a yellow boat in Osaka Bay and said, "Build a sanctuary at the place where this boat stops and deify the spirit of the locality, and the country will prosper." The boat floated up the rivers of the Yodo-gawa to the Kamo-gawa, stopping at the head of the stream. The deities enshrined here are Takaokami-no-Kami and Kuraokami-no-Kami. They are believed to be the gods of water, and people pray to them for rain during times of drought, and to stop rain during floods. A certain emperor dedicated a black horse in a drought, and a white horse during a prolonged spell of rain. This is why people now offer up votive plates with the image of a horse which are called "ema" (literally "picture horses").