“When the very air of one’s marriage grows thin and dim, there is nothing to do but set out to find a richer, brighter air,” ponders the narrator of Port Townsend author Rikki Ducornet’s brief, ...

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 ...

Inada Ichiro (Japanese, 1891-1979) was an important 20th century netsuke artist. For centuries, the Japanese have used miniature sculptures hung by cords from the sash of their traditional garments ...

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 ...

If you always head for the special exhibitions when visiting the Dayton Art Institute, here’s a suggestion: set aside some time to check out the concurrent Focus exhibits as well. About three years ...

In the hands of Japanese netsuke carvers like Ryushi Komada, something quite mundane becomes sublime. From a simple block of wood emerges a delicate and expressive face, the sense of movement in the ...

The Japanese used a netsuke (pronounced net-skeh or netski) to suspend items from their belts in the last quarter of the 19th century. They had no pockets in their kimonos. The netsuke, comparable to ...

NETSUKE, intricately carved toggles designed to hang from the sash of a man’s kimono, appear to be back in fashion. Not as smart, decorative accessories, but as treasures to be enjoyed for their ...

The SAGEMONOYA Gallery will commemorate its 20th anniversary Oct 13-16 with a special exhibition sale focused on the centuries-old but little-known Japanese art form of netsuke. The exhibit’s opening ...

Japanese carved figurines, called netsuke, weren’t just cool works of art — they served a practical purpose as wardrobe accessories. A well-dressed Japanese man prior to the twentieth century could ...

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