"Ema (絵馬, lit. "picture-horse") are small wooden plaques, common to Japan, in which Shinto and Buddhist worshippers write prayers or wishes. The ema are left hanging up ...
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at the shrine, where the kami (spirits or gods) are believed to receive them.:25 Typically 15 cm wide and 9 cm high, they often carry images or are shaped like animals, or symbols from the zodiac, Shinto, or the particular shrine or temple.:26 In ancient times people would donate horses to the shrines for good favor; over time this was transferred to a wooden plaque with a picture of a horse, and later still to the various wooden plaques sold today for the same purpose.:154 Once inscribed with a wish, Ema are hung at the shrine:49 until they are ritually burned at special events, symbolic of the liberation of the wish from the writer.:35" - (en.wikipedia.org 30.09.2019)