sagemono

Noun

sagemono (plural sagemono or sagemonos)

1. (historical) Any kind of carrying container hung from one's belt or sash (in Japan), such as a coin purse, tobacco pouch, or pillbox.
   • With the downfall of the samurai, for instance, swords as works of art went out of existence. Then those artists had to turn their attention to the embellishment of little articles in common use, such as the sagemono or the hanging things which the Japanese men carried attached to their obis (the...1933 January, Lillian Dow Davidson, “Japan Faces the Rising Sun”, in The Rotarian, volume 42, number 1, Chicago: Rotary International, →ISSN, page 43
   • Although a netsuke could be as simple as a stick with two holes in it or as elaborate as a piece of fine jewelry, its function placed certain restrictions on material and design. It had to be small enough to slide easily under the obi but bulky enough to keep the sagemono from slipping down.1982, Barbra Teri Okada, Netsuke: Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Harry N. Abrams, →ISBN, page 9