Japanese artists starting in the 17th century cleverly invented the miniature sculptures known as netsuke (Japanese:根付) to serve a very practical function. (The two Japanese characters ne+tsuke mean "root" and "to suspend or hang") Traditional Japanese garments - robes called kosode and kimono - had no pockets. Men who wore them needed a place to keep personal belongings such as pipes, tobacco, money, seals, or medicines.
The elegant solution was to place such objects in containers (called sagemono ) hung by cords from the robes' sash (obi). The containers might take the form of a pouch or a small woven basket, but the most popular were beautifully crafted boxes (inro ), which were held shut by ojime , sliding beads on cords. Whatever the form of the container, the fastener that secured its cord at the top of the sash was a carved, button-like toggle called a netsuke.
Such objects, often of great artistic merit, have a long history reflecting important aspects of Japanese folklore and life. The art lives on and carvers, whose modern works command high prices (U$10,000 to $100,000, or more), are in the UK, Europe, the USA, Japan and elsewhere.
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