Tamagushi (玉串?, literally "jewel skewer") is a form of Shinto offering made from a sakaki-tree branch decorated with shide strips of washi paper, silk, or cotton. At Japanese weddings, funerals, miyamairi and other ceremonies at Shinto shrines, tamagushi are ritually presented to the kami (spirits or gods) by parishioners or kannushi priests.
Read more about Tamagushi: Linguistic History, Etymology, The Ehime Lawsuit