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.
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lol
The same thing happens at the shrine in the "real" Hinamizawa (Shirakawa-go) village:
http://forums.narutofan.com/showpost.php?s=1e4a84ce93da94096372143c1462bf89&p=11733082&postcount=9 [http://forums.narutofan.com/showpost.php?s=1e4a84ce93da94096372143c1462bf89&p=11733082&postcount=9]
Yes, Shirakawa is another target of otaku trips, just like Washinomiya. There are even some videos of ema plaques in Hinamizawa on YouTube.
>http://forums.narutofan.com
>narutofan.com
>narutofan
4/10
Woah, almost got me there.
I wish I was there, making a wish too
XD
Ah, if only Western countries had such traditions. All America does for New Years is make resolutions and get drunk out of our minds.
resolutions...
Drunk out of their minds is more like it.
When the gods get these their gonna be fapping hard XD
wow, they're drawn pretty good =)
These are very well drawn how can I get one?
Axquiring one would be a tall order, I'm afraid. Pulling them off their stands at a temple would not be taken very well.
haha I went yesterday!
Was pretty interresting in its own way, and the shrines are very nice looking!
Had to eat a choco cornet before leaving through...
If I could grab hold of an ema, I'd write this:
MAY THERE BE STRIKE WITCHES FIGMA.
We hope that the gods will be pleased
i dunno if the gods will be pissed or greatly entertained...
May be both actually... Anyways something tells me the normal japanese may not be too happy with these..
I have to wonder why there's a maid ema, but no Emma ema.
That's a good pun!
Why is it that all of the people that do this so good at drawing? Why are there no totally pitiful attempts?
If this were the U.S. or something, it would be a sea of crap surrounding one or two good ones.