Magatama
Magatama are a unique stylized form of prehistoric bead, appearing as long as 15,000 years ago in burial mounds in Korea and Japan. It is speculated that the shape may have originally to represent an animal fang or claw, the crescent moon, a tear or even a whirlpool or eddy in water. It is the last meaning that continued to find expression throughout Eastern Asian culture, in symbols such as the Yin-Yang in Taoism and the Tomoe in Shintoism and Japanese symbology.