Senjafuda

'thousand-shrine tags') are votive slips, stickers or placards posted on the gates or buildings of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan.

In the pleasure quarters of Kyoto, colorful designs were employed on senjafuda and used in place of traditional business cards.

The slats were carved out with the visitors' name, area of origin and often included a prayer for a good life and afterlife.

According to Kiritani's Vanishing Japan, the oldest surviving invitation card to a senjafuda meeting dates back to 1799.

Wooden slat senjafuda, however, are still produced, and are worn as a necklace or used for key chain and cell phone ornaments.

The ones made from paper are pre-printed with common names; machines are also available that can produce custom senjafuda with adhesive backings.

Senrei Sekioka was one of the foremost Japanese experts of senjafuda history; Iseman and Frederick Starr were also important members of the nosatsu-kai during the Meiji and Taishō eras.

A common criticism of the sticker version of senjafuda is that they are more difficult to peel off than their original pasted ancestors, and thus can disfigure the underlying buildings when removed.