These Cheeky Statuettes Were Part of Edo-Era Japan’s Answer to Pockets www.atlasobscura.com

“It’s like a fob or a toggle, a giant button,” says Robert Mintz, deputy director of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and a scholar of Japanese art.
When shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu ascended to power in 1603, he instituted stringent neo-Confucian code that stratified society into four distinct classes, Okada writes.
At the dawn of the 19th century, netsuke began to reflect scenes from everyday life, such as ordinary townsfolk doing daily chores.
Asian Art Museum of San FranciscoThe golden age of netsuke art arrived at the beginning of the 19th century, according to Contemporary Netsuke by Miriam Kinsey.
“I find that kind of amazing.”The Kyoto Seishu Netsuke Art Museum is the only museum in the world dedicated to these tiny treasures.