Japanese netsuke are elaborately detailed figurines. Measuring around 3–5 centimeters in length, they have been described as “small universes in the palm of the hand” for their intricacy. Netsuke ...

Joseph Kurstin’s first netsuke was inexpensive and unattractive. But after five decades, the piece is still part of his collection, which now numbers some 800 examples of the Japanese art form. The ...

History: It’s not everyday that you long to hold a pouch of baby rats. But when they are Japanese netsuke, the urge to wrap your fingers around these ivory carvings may be irresistible. Netsuke ...

Netsuke are those darling carved toggles that appear to hang as decorations from obi but actually have a very practical role in the traditional dress ensemble. Since traditional Japanese garments have ...

Netsuke are the diminutive works of art that dangled from cords attaching purses or other pouches to a kimono's obi sash before Western garb ousted traditional dress after the modernizing Meiji ...