Ema Coloring Pages

A Wooden Board to Write Your Wishes On

An Ema is a wooden board you write your wishes on at a shrine or temple.
It has a picture on the front. You write your wish and your name on the back or in the empty space.
After you write on your Ema, you hang it on the Ema rack on the shrine grounds so your wish reaches the gods.
You can see lots of Ema hung up during New Year's visits and before big school tests!

Instead of Real Horses

Long ago, people say that people gave real horses when they prayed to the gods.
People thought horses were very special animals that the gods rode on.
Giving a real horse was very hard, though. So people started using horses made of wood or clay, and finally, wooden boards with pictures of horses drawn on them.
That is why it is called Ema, which means "picture horse"!

All Kinds of Ema

Today's Ema have many different pictures, not just horses!
Each shrine has its own pictures, like the zodiac animal for the year, Daruma dolls, Mount Fuji, or animals linked to the shrine.
Some people say the pointed top shape looks like the roof of a shrine, which is the house of the gods.
It is fun to compare different Ema pictures when you visit shrines on a trip!

3 Coloring Pages

There are 3 coloring pages.
The 1st page is an Ema with a sheep, the zodiac animal for 2027. It has a blank space at the bottom where you can write your wish.
The 2nd page shows an Ema rack at a shrine with Ema featuring the 12 zodiac animals and more.
The 3rd page is a detailed coloring page that shows an Ema rack packed with Ema and the main hall at a shrine on New Year's.
Try coloring the Hatsumode and Sheep coloring pages, too!

How to Write an Ema

They say it is best to write 1 wish clearly on an Ema.
Instead of writing "I hope I can do...", some people write a goal like "I will try my best at...".
Some shrines do not require you to write your name or address, so check the shrine's signs.
It is also nice to write the goal you wrote for your New Year's Kakizome calligraphy on an Ema.
Writing your own wish in your own handwriting is what really matters!

Ema are the color of wood

The Ema board is made of wood, so let's color it light brown or ocher.
If you color the string red and white, it will look very festive!
For the sheep on the 1st coloring page, you can leave its wool white or color it lightly with cream color.

Let's write a wish

After you finish coloring the 1st Ema, try writing your wish and your name in the blank space at the bottom.
If you practice first with a pencil and then write carefully with a pen, it will turn out great!
If you cut it out and put a string through it, you can make your very own Ema decoration.

Spread the colors out for lots of Ema

On the 2nd and 3rd coloring pages with lots of Ema, color the animals and objects on each Ema with different colors.
If you spread the colors out so the same color isn't right next to itself, it will look super lively!
If you color the shrine pillars and Torii gate vermilion, and the roof dark gray or green, it will look just like a real shrine.

The shrine grounds on the 3rd coloring page

For the cedar trees on the 3rd coloring page, layer dark green and green. Change how bright each bunch of leaves is!
Color the Komainu guardian lions and stone lanterns gray, and layer a little dark gray over them to make them look like real stone.
Color the Shimenawa rope ocher and leave the Shide paper white to make it look like a shrine at New Year's.
If you color the clothes of the parent and child writing on the Ema with bright colors, they will stand out in the picture!
It looks pretty if you color the bell rope red and white.

The oldest Ema

In Japan, Ema from around the Nara period have been found at ancient ruins.
Even back then, people drew pictures of horses on wooden boards and gave them to the gods.

Big Ema

At shrines and temples, you can sometimes see huge Ema that are taller than a person!
Some of them were painted by famous artists with fancy pictures of battles and ships.
The building made for showing off these big Ema is called an Emado.

What happens to the Ema you write on?

After your Ema hangs there for a while, the shrine staff perform a special blessing and put it away with care.
Some shrines burn them together with New Year decorations at a bonfire called Dondo Yaki.
This is so the wishes you put into your Ema reach the gods!

Ema for passing exams

At shrines for the god of learning, lots of people hang Ema to pray for passing exams before test season starts.
Sometimes there are so many Ema that they overlap and spill over the hanging racks!
Everyone puts their warm wishes into these Ema.
Some people even take home Ema with cute pictures as souvenirs!