The most beautiful things in life are the ones we take the trouble to notice. This applies to more intangible ideas like personality traits or human acts, but also small, tangible objects from wildflowers to beetle carapaces. Few cultures can match Japan's deep, consistent love for miniature objects throughout history; netsuke are a prime example. Another example that often goes unremarked upon — and indeed is far more obscure than it should be — is the ojime.
Those who have encountered netsuke before may be familiar with ojime. In brief, netsuke are small wearable toggles used to suspend tobacco pouches, purses, medicine kits, and other tchotchkes from a kimono sash — in effect, they were useful, detachable pockets that also doubled as accessories, status symbols, and conversation pieces. There are three elements to this setup: the netsuke itself (the toggle), the cord, and the ojime. The word derives from “o,” meaning “string” or “cord,” and the verb “shimeru,” meaning to fasten or tighten. In English, ojime are usually referred to as cord fasteners, cord stoppers, or slider beads.
Image via Artzze
What makes an ojime?
Cord fasteners are still used today in all manner of objects from hoodies to backpacks. Unlike modern cord fasteners, however, ojime were not simply functional; like netsuke, they were beautiful and useful, and a crucial component of the ensemble. They are essentially specialised beads, the smallest and simplest being a ball with a hole through it. Like netsuke, the finest ojime combine superb artistry and skill with aesthetics, but arguably at an even higher level given that they are by design much smaller than the former.
The physical requirements for ojime overlap with those for netsuke. Beyond its diminutive size, the ojime must be sturdy enough to withstand daily wear. It must be finished on all sides, since it is likely to be examined and admired, and the hole must be placed in such a way that it is part of the design, or at the very least does not detract from the ojime’s appearance.
However, there is some flexibility even within these constraints. For instance, ojime do not always have to be spherical. They can also be cubes or cylinders, and they can come in a variety of textures and appearances, such as stippled, faceted, spiralled, elongated, and so on. Unlike netsuke, they are not always representational; quite often, ojime feature geometric patterns or abstract designs, and sometimes are purely about capturing the beauty of a particular material such as jade or crystal in a single, small bead.
A set of inro (medicine kit), ojime (chrysanthemum-shaped), and netsuke. Image via The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
That being said, many ojime are representational, and depict a tremendous variety of subjects, most often in three-dimensional sculptural forms (katabori). Demons and gods, birds and berries, frogs and field mice, sandals and saints — if the sculptor was sufficiently skilled, imagination was their only limiting factor. Size-wise, ojime ranged from 0.6cm (¼ inch) to as large as 3.2cm (1¼ inch) in diameter, though the majority have tended to fall somewhere in between. The ojime carver was not usually the same person as the netsuke sculptor; one of the joys of purchasing netsuke was coordinating and combining the different elements to make a unique ensemble.
Ojime’s diminutive size and function meant that issues of fragility and weight mattered less than they did for netsuke, and as such, the range of materials used was much wider. The overwhelming majority of ojime have been made from staghorn, wood, lacquer, coral, and various types of ivory, but they have also encompassed gemstones, metals, alloys, glass, ceramics, and dozens of other animal-derived materials. In fact, even though glass was not a widely used material until the Meiji period (1868-1912), glass ojime were popular during the Edo period (1603-1868).
Image by E. Delito, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A brief history of ojime
Precisely when ojime were first used in Japan is unknown. However, it is likely that ojime preceded netsuke by many centuries. The practice of suspending small, personal items from belts or sashes is not unique to Japan, and may well have arrived via China and Mongolia. Suspended pouches with drawstring beads that resembled ojime were fashionable during the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907), when China frequently received emissaries from Japan. Illustrated handscrolls from the Kamakura period (1185-1333) also depict this practice, implying that ojime were in use at this time.
The rise and decline of ojime more or less parallels that of netsuke, as they were used in tandem with each other. According to Hirokazu Arakawa, the earliest written reference to ojime appeared in 1625 in a collection of essays by Karasuma Mitsuhiro, where the writer describes a fashionable young priest whose yellow coin purse is suspended by a cord and an ojime with a bull’s eye design. A national tobacco habit — and the concurrent wearing of tobacco pouches from one’s obi (kimono sash) — cemented during the seventeenth century led to the widespread use of ojime and netsuke. The use of ojime was popular across all social classes, and certainly prominent enough during the Edo period to warrant the appearance of ojime specialty shops in a few business directories for major cities (Kyoto, Edo, and Osaka), as well as specialist industry publications on ojime beads.
The late nineteenth century saw a brief flourishing of ojime as artistic accessories. The Hatorei edict of 1876 prohibited the wearing of swords, and metalwork craftspeople turned their energies and talents towards creating ojime and other related accessories, which gave merchants further opportunities to flaunt their newfound wealth. However, this would not last; they became virtually obsolete as useful objects by the mid-twentieth century, and were sorely overlooked and undervalued in Japan for many decades. Netsuke were likely of greater interest to collectors overall — they appear in far more European collections than do ojime — but ojime were nevertheless collected by Western tourists in the early decades of the twentieth century and then again during the postwar decades, often as necklace beads or as individual pendants.
Image via the British Antique Dealers' Association
The case for appreciating ojime
Ojime are an example of an underrated Japanese art form that melds technical skill, artistry, fine design, fascinating subjects, and extraordinary craftsmanship. However, one advantage they have over netsuke in the modern age is that they make beautiful pendants or necklace beads — what better way to display one’s acquisitions? Their diminutive size makes them eminently collectible in a way that larger objects like swords or paintings are not — like the grown-up version of a treasure bag of marbles — and can act as a gateway to a deeper appreciation of Japanese art and history. Ojime are also quite affordable (relative to netsuke, or other antique crafts) and it is still possible for the first-time buyer to find high-quality examples on auction sites and auction houses, or via antique dealers and shops.
Still, whether one uses ojime as jewellery or not is a moot point. The importance of ojime lies in the fact that countless artisans over the centuries have taken the trouble to create miniature masterpieces, and that even more people took the trouble to commission and wear beautifully crafted ojime when a purely functional object would have sufficed. As a species, we have always sought beauty one way or another; ojime are a reminder of our love for all things small and lovely.
Sources and further reading
Arakawa, Hirokazu. The Go Collection of Netsuke (in Tokyo National Museum). Tokyo, New York, and San Francisco: Kodansha International, 1983.
Kinsey, Robert O. Ojime: Magical Jewels of Japan. United States: Harry N. Abrams, 1991.