Ema fashions

The changing face of ema votive tablets
The Japan News — Mar 24KYOTO”Find a good marriage partner for me,” “Let me succeed in an entrance exam” and “I wish for the well-being of my family” are all wishes people write on ema, small wooden votive tablets. An array of ema bearing these, and many other, hopes are hung at temples and shrines around the nation.

However, this familiar scene has been undergoing changes to meet the needs of worshipers today.  At Shimogamo Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto, a section around the Aioi-sha facility enshrining a deity for matchmaking looked as though it was a solid block of red from a distance. Upon closer inspection, however, it was apparent that each of the ema tablets hanging on racks was covered with a red sticker to conceal the worshiper’s name, wish and other matters written on it.

“I don’t have to worry that someone will read what I wrote,” said a smiling third-year high school girl from Tokyo on her graduation trip. “I can write the name of the person I like without a problem.”

The shrine began handing out these stickers to worshipers about 10 years ago after shrine workers saw high school students on a school trip teasing their classmate, who wrote a wish for love on a tablet.Recently, some visitors post others’ wishes written on ema on Twitter or blogs without the permission of their authors. About 90 percent of visitors use the stickers to conceal their ema wishes before they leave, according to the shrine.

At Imamiya Shrine in Kita Ward, Kyoto, rows of ema tablets bearing the image of girls in school uniforms are seen. The shrine is associated with Keishoin, mother of the fifth Tokugawa shogun, Tsunayoshi (1646-1709).  The high school girls are characters from “Keion!” (K-On!), a popular anime featuring a rock music club at a girls’ high school.

 

 

What started as an offering of a white horse is fast gaining international acceptance