Because the Shinto religion is specific to Japan and cannot be found anywhere else in the world, it is quite hard for a foreigner to find information about the items seen inside a shrine. That’s why, from time to time, I wrote here about the objects frequently displayed and their corresponding customs and traditions.

Here is one of them, a wooden wand (on the left of this photo), called Ōnusa. Decorated with strips of white paper folded in zigzag (shide), it is used in the Shinto purification rituals, for example to purify the items presented to the kami.

Onusa, Jishu Shrine, Kyoto

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Shinjuku Southern Terrace Winter Illumination