Definition of "gohei" [gohei]

• In the Shinto shrines of Japan, a slender wand of unpainted and unvarnished wood, originally a branch of Cleyera japonica, from which hang two long strips of white Japanese paper, notched alternately on opposite sides, representing offerings of rough and fine white cloth. There is but one gohei to each deity worshiped at any particular temple. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "The sub-chief drew back the sliding doors, and all bowed with much reverence, It was a simple shrine of unlacquered wood, with a broad shelf at the back, on which there was a small shrine containing a figure of the historical hero Yoshitsune, in a suit of inlaid brass armour, some metal gohei, a pair of tarnished brass candle-sticks, and a coloured Chinese picture representing a junk."
• "The only ecclesiastical ornament among the dim splendours of the chapel is the plain gold gohei."
• "Shinto gohei — are wands and posts of peeled wood, whittled nearly to the top, from which the pendent shavings fall down in white curls."