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 hardwearing. Above all they had to have the means of attaching to a cord. Netsuke were made in a variety of forms, the most widely appreciated is the katabori (shape carving), a three-dimensional carving, such as this one in the form of a of a tengu (mythical creature) mask.

During the early 17th century when katabori netsuke were first made, Chinese influence on Japanese culture was strong. As a result, many Chinese illustrated books reached Japan, often in the form of encyclopaedia. One of the most important was the profusely illustrated Sancai tuhui (Tripartite picture assembly), published around 1610. Such works presented an exotic mixture of fact and fiction that was highly appealing. Of particular interest were the illustrations of mythical people and fabulous beasts, such as the creature from yumin guo (land of winged-men) that hatches from an egg. This resembles what later became known as the Japanese tengu. By the Edo period (1615-1868), tengu were always represented as either long-nosed tengu or crow-tengu, such as this example.