The design of the Netsuke took form in the 15th century as an object to suspend small objects (sagemono) and keys. It became formalized as a tool in the late 17th century during Japan’s Edo period when kimonos were the attire of the day. These garments did not have pockets or any form of storage thus men needed an object to store their tobacco, snuff, writing kits (yatate), brush (fude), ink (sumi) medicines, flint-and-tinder-box (huxhi-bukuro) and other such articles. Thus the Inrõ was realized and designed. The Inrõ would be hung from the waist sash (obi) using a cord that would be tightened and also anchored around sash the by the Netsuke.
The word Inrõ has its roots in Sino-Japanese from Middle Chinese - Jin印 translating as – seal and rō’, Luwung 印 translating as Cage.
What I find deeply pleasing about the Inro and what has guided me to write a post about an anachronistic article as such is its elegance, and its elegance to be so versatile and light. Its beauty lies in how effortless the object can compartmentalize space, how well it can hold and keep safe the precious sentimental articles of a samurai, which I also find to be deeply profound in how precise the samurai lives.
The Inrõ manages to compact itself to no bigger a size of 5 x 5 cm, perfectly apt for the ergonomic hand of a Japanese samurai who typically stood at 5ft 4 compared to the European knights of the middle ages at 5 ft 8. My deep veneration for this object which leads me to using the word beauty to describe it, is its influence on the individual, naturally as the samurai class increased in population, at least 10 per cent of Japan were known to be practicing samurai in the Tokugawa period. Thus this meant inflation for the demand of the Inro and the Netsuke, also following the growing field for artisanal objects from the merchant class, so not only did this supple object provide a means for civilians of a collectivistic society to exercise a matter of individuality but the Inro provided a simple basis of life. A simple dematerialized, de-cluttered, tidying object that aided the samurai to live without fuss, without the filler humdrum of life. That is precisely what makes this object so profound. What is in it but the essentials for a life very much stripped.
Now naturally, the Inrõ did not only serve as an object of daily practicalities and social status but too of geographical help. Inrõ makers carved an entire map of Japan, systemically dividing its districts. The diminutive size of the Inrõ did lead me to question its reasoning for its size. It would make clear sense that the lifespan of a samurai did not provide much longevity, that if not dying in in a duel then the samurai would die from being a rouge refusing to work for a shogunate, and if not that, then they would die from self-inflicted shame, this is what is known as – Seppuku, cutting the belly with a small blade left to right. Typically a fellow samurai is on standby ready to decapitate the victim, the victim will be decapitated only so that a thin line of flesh is left on the victims neck so that the head falls slowly into its arms.
There is also the aesthetic beauty of these objects, the deep engravings and photographic details capture an aura of patience and a clock run with care. One holds the full breath of care with these objects, and the care is imbued in them by a highly disciplined meticulousness from the Japanese. Look at the contemporary Netsuke artisan - Ryushi Komada.
It is beyond observable how much the east is beginning to influence the west, take a look at the rise of Japanese businesses' in the past decade opening left – right, YO! Sushi, Wagamama, Wasabi, Ippudo, MUJI, Uniqlo, the list drones on. However the influence of the east on the west is too large a topic to speak of here.
The west should look to the Inrõ for inspiration of dematerializing, and I am in full comprehension that the world is already doing as such with the rise of the technological age, observe how all mediums are becoming flattened – the album, the key, money, watches, soon all will become digital, so why would the Inrõ be revisited? Because, and I will stand to defend this for a good time, I believe that society will need a pocket of sentimental tangible things, not to associate a humanism with, but to feel a humanism through these sentiments.
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