| It's Shinto priests who work with these things.
| >
| > 1.)  What is with the priests using folded paper?
| > Wards I can understand, but
| > folded paper to whap someone's head or to to use as
| a
| > whip?
| >
|
| I've never seen that; that's not the purpose of the
| paper. The wards aren't used to hurt anyone; they're
| channels for the spiritual power of the priests and
| miko (Shinto priestesses). The folded paper (paper,
| called 'kami' but using a different kanji from the word
| for god [also known as kami]) is a symbol used as a
| purification device. Priests will use the paper to
| drive away evil spirits from anything from shrines to
| cars.

Actually, I think the question refers to a weapon that looks like one of
those cheap paper fans you make in grade-school; pleated paper gathered at
one end so the other spreads out in a fan-type shape. Only it's about as
long as an arm. Sailor Mars uses it for a while in the Sailor Moon Final
Fight clone, and Akane used it on the copied Ranma-chan in one of the later
manga volumes. I could probably dig up the page (translation courtesy of the
Ranma 1/2 Project) and point it out, but based only on context, it's
probably got some demon-warding capability, in addition to being made of an
inordinately thick brand of paper.

--G. Falconar

Then again, what do I know?