Mizaru, Kinkazaru, and Iwazaru, okimono, Japan, c. 1880 AD, boxwood - Spurlock Museum, UIUC - DSC06043

An okimono may be a small Japanese carving, similar to, but larger than netsuke. Unlike netsuke, which have a specific purpose, okimono are purely decorative and are displayed in the tokonoma. An okimono can be made out of wood, ivory, ceramic or metal. One subcategory of okimono is the jizai okimono, an articulated figure often made out of bronze or iron. Okimono are normally not larger than a few centimetres. They depict all sorts of animals, mythological beasts, humans, gods, fruit, vegetables and objects, sometimes combined with each other, in all sorts of positions. Sometimes a scene is portrayed as well, either a daily scene or from a story. Anything that could be carved or made into a small object can be used in an okimono. Some okimono were inspired by a group of objects and were supposed to be shown together as an ensemble.