Gohei

A Gohei is a special wooden wand used in Shinto, a religion practiced in Japan. It is decorated with two shide, which are zigzagging paper streamers. These streamers are usually white but can also be gold, silver, jade, or a mix of colors. The gohei is often attached to straw ropes called shimenawa that mark sacred places.

The shrine priest or attendants called miko use the gohei during rituals to bless or cleanse people and objects. It helps to purify sacred places in temples and can remove negative energy from things. The gohei is important in many Shinto ceremonies and sometimes serves as an object of veneration called shintai in a Shinto shrine.

There is even a type of food named after this wand, called Goheimochi, showing how the gohei has influenced many parts of Japanese culture.