Жапон дірмендерінде тілектер тақтасы

Wood plaque deposited in a Japanese temple to ask for a wish

are small wooden plaques, common to Japan, in which Shinto and Buddhist worshippers write prayers or wishes. Ema are left hanging up at the shrine, where the kami (spirits or gods) are believed to receive them. This is particularly evident at shrines such as the at Ikoma Shrine, where ema more often than usual indicate great despair or tragedy in one's life and show a heavy dependence on divine intervention. However, ema have been hung up for many other purposes, such as advertisements for certain Kabuki groups at shrines such as Naritasan Shinshôji in the Chiba prefecture. Typically wide and tall, they often carry images or are shaped like animals, or symbols from the zodiac, Shinto, or the particular shrine or temple. Once inscribed with a wish, ema are hung at the shrine until they are ritually burned at special events, symbolic of the liberation of the wish from the writer. There is no specified format for creating ema. Typically, one side has the wishes inscribed in text, and the other is left for imagery should it be desired.

In some early Shinto and folk traditions of Japan, horses were seen as carrying messages from the kami, and were usually used to transmit requests during droughts or famines. several otaku started a practice of hanging (same first kanji as in itasha) featuring drawings of characters from popular manga and video game series. Oftentimes these are placed at shrines closely tied to a particular series either by set location or an official collaboration. Another hotspot for ita ema is Kanda Shrine, due both to its proximity to Akihabara and its relationship with the Love Live! franchise. Some series rights holders and collaborating shrines began selling branded ita ema as official merchandise.

Historically, groups of farmers or small merchants could organize to hire a local artisan to create an ema to be donated to a shrine for a specific purpose, such as a good harvest. Archeological records suggest this could have been used to send political signals, as in the case of a Fukuoka Prefecture shrine that saw an increase in commissioned portraits depicting peaceful relations with Korea amidst tensions between the nations during the late 19th century. The use of text has gradually replaced the overt use of symbolism in contemporary ema. The rise of literacy has encouraged guests to write their own messages, which has dramatically decreased the use of distinct ema as a way to transmit a specific wish.

As a ritual, the ema is a means to communicate wishes to both priests and the kami. The public nature of the ema, which are displayed at shrines before their ritual burning, also serves a social function for communicating to the community that an individual has made the wish. Burning the wishes helps to "symbolically liberate" the spirit of the wish into the world. In some cases, however, wishes are taken from the shrine to be hung at home, though still ritually burned in special ceremonies.