I’ve always been fascinated with the tiny Japanese sculpture they call Netsuke.
Carved out of a single piece of wood or stone, they have a unique rounded shape and are small enough to fit in one’s hand.
Today we went to the Kyoto Seishu Netsuke Art Museum. At 5000, it has the largest collection of netsuke in the world. The permanent exhibition replaces around 400 netsuke every three months in a two-hundred-year-old samurai residence. Judging from the residence, the samurai must have been short with an ability to spring up tall steps.
The netsuke, selected from the Edo Period to the present, were true gems. Bending down to inspect the craftsmanship on display almost left me with a permanent squint.
