The netsuke is a toggle. Japanese men used netsuke to suspend various pouches and containers from their sashes by a silk cord. Netsuke had to be small and not too heavy, yet bulky enough to do the job. They needed to be compact with no sharp protruding edges, yet also strong and hard-wearing. Above all, they had to have the means for attaching a cord. Netsuke were made in a variety of forms, the most widely appreciated being the katabori (shape carving), a three-dimensional carving, such as this one in the form of a rat.

The rat is one of the 12 animals of the East Asian zodiac, which derives from Chinese cosmology. In a recurring cycle of 12, each animal is assigned to a year in a specific order. The traditional order is: rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, cock, dog and boar. A netsuke portraying any of these animals was particularly associated with the New Year festivities of the appropriate year, but could also be used at any time during that particular year, and again 12 years later in accordance with the cycle.