Magatama

 

Comma shaped beads that were thought to confer sacred power on their wearer.

http://www.manabi.pref.hiroshima.jp/rekishih/kusado_db/image_files/stone/21Q00324a.jpg
(from http://www.manabi.pref.hiroshima.jp/rekishih/kusado_db/q04.html)

 

Komochi magatama: magatama (usually made from talc) that have smaller magatama attached to them them. They began appearing about 1500 years ago (the Kofun period). They were probably connected to fertility (the idea being that the smaller projections represent reproduction).

http://www.toyohaku.gr.jp/bihaku/komoti.jpg
(from www.toyohaku.gr.jp/bihaku/komoti.htm)