Exhibition on the Japanese folk art tradition of ema, house-shaped wooden votive plaques, at Mingei International Museum.
Painted Prayers: The Japanese Folk Art Tradition of Ema opens at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park on October 17, 2026, and runs through April 4, 2027. It's the first comprehensive museum exhibition in the United States devoted to the custom of ema, the house-shaped wooden votive plaques offered as prayers at Japan's Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples.
If you've never come across them, ema are small, hand-painted wooden tablets. People paint them with images of deities, animals, or objects and write their wishes on them—some general, like good fortune for the coming year, others as specific as asking for the removal of warts. They're full of color, hope, and a fair bit of humor, including some surprising visual puns. For centuries, worshippers have inscribed them with impassioned prayers and hung them on wooden stands outside shrine and temple halls, hoping the gods would read them and grant the wishes before the plaques are ritually burned at the end of the year.
The exhibition is curated by guest curator Meher McArthur and draws from the museum's own collection, with works ranging from the 18th century to the present day. It's accompanied by a catalogue featuring essays by McArthur and scholar Hilary K. Snow, PhD.
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Admission ranges from free to $15. The museum is at 1439 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92102, in Balboa Park.
