Gohei

 In Japan in Shinto shrines one can see paper strips folded in zigzags. This is a gohei, a sign that there is a “body of god”, or shintai, in the shrine. In Shinto they have a transfiguration ceremony, similar to a Catholic one. During this ceremony an object becomes a “body of god”, and after this it is shut in the shrine and never shown to the public. This paper zigzag is a sign that there is a “body of god” in the sanctuary. It is a bit like a sanctuary lamp in a Catholic church.