Ema
A small wooden plaque at Japanese shrines on which visitors write a wish or thanks.
Also: votive plaque, wish plaque, picture horse, ema tablet
An ema is a wooden votive plaque, usually with a picture on one side and blank space on the other, on which a worshipper writes a wish, a prayer or thanks and hangs on a rack at the shrine. The name means picture horse. In the past, people gave real horses to shrines to ask for rain or good harvests, and later they offered painted horses instead. Today the picture may show the zodiac animal of the year, a deity or a local scene. Students ask for exam success, couples for love, and travellers for safety. The plaques are collected and ritually burned. At famous shrines the racks hold thousands, and the handwriting offers a record of what people hope for.