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How did Japanese ivory carvers respond when foreign demand replaced the market for netsuke?

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Inupiat shaman's figure. — ivory carving Kinugumiut Inupiat incised walrus ivory shaman's figure, c. 1890; in the National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center, Smithsonian Institution, New York City.

Following the end of the Tokugawa regime in 1867, traditional Japanese dress customs changed and the introduction of the cigarette rendered netsuke obsolete as functional toggles.12

In response to this shift, Japanese ivory carvers pivoted to producing items specifically designed to appeal to the tastes of foreign residents and tourists. These new products included:2

Jewel boxes and chests2
Card cases2
Chess pieces, buttons, and brooches2

By approximately 1900, however, the quality of these works declined significantly due to the use of machine tools for mass production and an emphasis on endless repetition. Consequently, the focus of most Japanese ivory carving shifted toward the creation of copies of old netsuke—often including the forged signatures of deceased artists—and the production of forged Chinese ivory antiquities.2