絵馬 – Wishing Plaques

A common sight in Japanese shrines is walls of 絵馬 (えま) , or wooden wishing plaques. Remember that shrines (神社) = Shinto and temples (寺) = Buddhism, so the tradition of 絵馬 is Shinto. However, because the two religions have blended so much, you can now find these plaques at temples as well. Obviously, there...