Ita-Shinto Prayer Plaques

The otaku desire to decorate as much of the otherwise normal world with moe pictures knows few bounds, as demonstrated by the growing amount of ita-ema  on display at Shinto shrines. (Ema are wooden plaques with prayers written on them and offered at shrines or temples for the gods to read.)

New Years is an especially active time for ema offerings, and pictures of some ita-ema have become available online and are shown below.

The photos below are from 神田明神 / Kanda Myoujin, a shrine particularly close to Akihabara – I’m sure the priests enjoy the proximity to otaku-land…

An especially well-done ema of a maid, by doujinshi artist Orimoto Mimana.

He seems to be playful with his writing, as the above ema carries the amusing pun: “Maid in Japan”, and his C75 Kannagi doujin was named “Nagi-sama Recycle”.

“I wish that I can score with an itasha girl.”

Apparently a prayer to meet a rare female owner of an itasha?

“I wish that the Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka DVDs sell well.”

Perhaps he works for the studio?

“I wish that good things happen this year, anything at all would be fine.”

A fairly good drawing, Akiba Blog wonders if it’s by a pro or doujin artist?

There are others available online, some as accomplished as the ema of the maid shown above, but the most concentrated location of high quality ita-ema will likely remain the real-life Lucky Star town of Washinomiya for the foreseeable future:

More Lucky Star ema viewable at our previous article.

Pictures courtesy of Akiba Blog and Anata ga Suki Desu.