votive tablet; ema
A small wooden plaque on which worshippers write prayers or wishes and hang at Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples. Originally depicted a horse as a substitute for donating a real horse.
I wrote my wish on an ema at the shrine.
Many ema for passing exams are hung up.
Hoping to pass the exam, I dedicated a votive tablet at the shrine.
Visitors kept hanging their votive tablets one after another.
I wrote a wish for my family's health on the votive tablet.
絵馬 is a plaque for writing and displaying a personal wish, whereas おみくじ is a paper fortune-slip you draw at random to learn your luck.
counter for thin, flat objects; sheet; plate; coin · serving of soba; portion of gyōza · sumo rank position; wrestler at a given rank · field; rice paddy plot · palanquin bearer
Standard kanji spelling; the reading えうま is historical and not used in modern Japanese.
From 絵 (e, 'picture') + 馬 (ma, 'horse'). Originally, real horses were donated to shrines, but over time painted wooden tablets of horses became substitutes, and later the tablets were used for various wishes.