The Shinto rope marking a sacred boundary and made traditionally from rice straw or hemp is called a shimenawa.
Shimenawa are twisted ropes hung around sacred objects, trees, rocks, shrine buildings, and other places believed to have ritual significance. They signal that the marked space is set apart from ordinary surroundings. The ropes may be small and simple or extremely large, depending on the site and tradition.
Zigzag-shaped white paper strips called shide are often attached to a shimenawa. Shide are also used with other ritual objects, so they are not the rope itself. Together, the rope and paper help make a boundary visible and identify a place or object as ritually special.
Shimenawa are closely connected with Shinto ideas of purification and sacred presence. A particularly famous example surrounds the Meoto Iwa rocks at Futami in Mie Prefecture. The rocks are linked symbolically with the creator kami Izanagi and Izanami, although local customs and interpretations differ.