thumb|A Japanese 19th-century mixed metal bead thumb|Inro, ojime and [[netsuke. Lacquer inro, stained ivory ojime and wooden netsuke; inro features a reclining figure in a boat; netsuke is in the form of a mask, by Ikkan (ca. 1750-1850)]] An is a bead used in Japanese (carrying cases). It is typically under an inch in length. Each is carved into a particular shape and image, similar to the , though smaller. It is used to fasten the cord of the so that it does not unstack while carried.
thumb|A Japanese 19th-century mixed metal bead thumb|Inro, ojime and [[netsuke. Lacquer inro, stained ivory ojime and wooden netsuke; inro features a reclining figure in a boat; netsuke is in the form of a mask, by Ikkan (ca. 1750-1850)]] An is a bead used in Japanese (carrying cases). It is typically under an inch in length. Each is carved into a particular shape and image, similar to the , though smaller. It is used to fasten the cord of the so that it does not unstack while carried.
The history of beads dates back to the Edo period (1603–1868). beads, , and or cases would be items worn on a traditional kimono, typically hanging from the belt.
Discovered by embedding cosine similarity (sentence-transformers MiniLM, 384-dim).