Japanese Inro and Netsuke, by Zayda Jocelinne Michel Martinez

During the Tokugawa period inro and netsuke were vital accessories for Japanese commoners and high-status peoples, who would display gold details to show their status). These items were used to carry small things such as medicines, tobacco, or even stamps with their names on it, since kimono lacked pockets for storage. This accessory was actually made up of three parts: inro (box), netsuke (carved monkey), and ojime (carved peach stone). The inro includes a painting of a daily scene at the time: commoners in a village between mountains with people working the land and enjoying the river. The netsuke is a carved monkey covering its mouth which could represent the virtue of not speaking evil. In the ojime (peach stone) is carved the traditional "Tale of Urashima," an important folktale, which is about a humble fisherman who saved a turtle and is rewarded with a visit to the Dragon God's Palace at the bottom of the sea.

These accessories were handcrafted. They were used to show status. And the images depicted and materials used to craft inro and netsuke were used to show the world, where the person was in the status pyramid. During the Tokugawa period status was everything for people, it was what determined how life was going to be, jobs, and attitudes that people had to take.