Ever since I started gathering kimono parts for my wedding, I've been trying to keep an eye out for something with a fox on it to have with me. But a fox motif is quite rare for women's clothing because wearing one would be like saying you were a kitsune and that has various meanings associated with it. Specifically that you are a fox in the form of a woman who is here to seduce a man and to take him away from the real world.

...

So I'm looking for fox items and someone suggested I wear a fox netsuke.

A netsuke is a small carving that is used as counter-balance for a pouch or some other hanging object. A kimono doesn't have pockets, so in order to carry something around, you balance the item with a netsuke that sort of 'hooks' over the top of the obi sash. This set-up is called a sagemono. There are various items you can have suspended in this way, but one of the most common is called an inro. An inro is like a box with sections that stack on top of each other. You can keep very small items in it and I think they're traditionally used as pill boxes. Besides the netsuke and inro, there's also the cord that it all fits on and a small sliding bead that keeps the inro (or pouch or whatever you're suspending) closed. This bead is called an ojime and it's like a mini netsuke except the hole should go straight down through it unlike the holes of a netsuke which are usually on the back somewhere.

I've just finished getting all the pieces I need for my sagemono! Although I find that netsuke in particular are very addictive and I'm probably going to end up collecting them. I've got a fox netsuke that should be coming any day now and I've got a mini fox netsuke that I'm going to try to use as the bead because I have yet to actually find a fox ojime. Both are made from ancient mammoth ivory - which is an internationally accepted type of ivory that doesn't involve killing anything. I'm also getting in an inro that is shaped like bamboo and has bamboo etchings on it. The inro is carved from some sort of bone. It's actually really difficult to find an inro that doesn't have people on it or some sort of animal. I have yet to see a fox motif inro at all or one that is purely floral or abstract and in my price range. I was happy to find this bamboo one!

Once I get all these different parts in and put it together, I'll post a photograph.