Accessories used to adorn men's clothing in the Edo Period (1603-1867) are currently showing in an exhibition at the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, titled "Tsuba, Inro and Netsuke."
Though women's fashions of the period have received considerable attention, the no less intricate accessories worn by men -- including inro (lacquerware medicine boxes), carved netsuke (toggles), and tsuba (metal sword guards) -- have often been given short shrift. Now, this display of more than 120 small treasures reveals both the dandyism of upper-class samurai and the genius of the artists behind these sophisticated creations.
Japanese clothing at this time did not have pockets, and when, in the 15th century, inro were imported from China, they caught on fast, being principally used to store medicine. By the beginning of the Edo Period, however, they had become merely decorative, and were suspended from obi sashes using silk cords. The ends of the cords were then secured with a netsuke, usually made of ivory or animal bone. A bead called an ojime was used to adjust the length of the cord.
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