Thanks to Takako Nakano of Hiroshima, I’ve been collecting ema since 1984. At a Shinto shrine, you can buy an ema, a small plaque with an auspicious design painted on it. You write your wish or prayer on your plaque and hang it on a special rack in front of the shrine. Your ema remains there, constantly reminding the gods of your prayer, until New Year’s Eve. That night they are burned and your prayer now rises as smoke in a final offering to the gods.
These are koema (small ema), offered at Izumo Shrine in 2013. Izumo is one of three imperial shrines; the others are Atsuta and Ise. It was believed that in October of every year all the gods of Japan gathered at Izumo to plan the relationships for the next year – who would be friends, who would marry and who would have good business relationships. The god of Izumo is the god of marriage. The left hand ema show a married couple and the right hand ema has a snake, as 2013 was the year of the snake. It’s interesting to read the messages on ema, now in many languages and often with lovely drawings.
Some shrines keep the same design on their ema every year. Other shrines change their designs annually, generally to reflect the zodiac animal for that year. There were also oema (large ema) painted by famous artists, such as Kano Motonobu and Hokusai. They are carefully signed and dated and sometimes installed in their own building.
My ema collection includes a large number of ema acquired by Sangoro Miyamoto, the grandfather of our first home stay student. After he retired as a teacher and principal, he traveled to many shrines where he bought ema. Each time we visited, I always discussed with him the ema I had collected on that trip. When he died in 1993, the family decided to give me his collection, since grandfather and I shared this common interest.
The practice of offering pictures to the deities of revered natural features and places goes back perhaps 1,200 years. The earliest preserved ema are from the 14th century. The word ema is composed of two kanji or Japanese characters, e (picture of) and ma (horse). This reflects the ancient custom of offering a horse to a shrine. Ema are the modest offerings of common people to the gods. Over the years I’ve happily donated to the upkeep of many shrines.
Helen Rindsberg
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