Tiger's fangs/ Private collection

During the military camp in Korea lasting over several years, many military commanders went tiger hunting for showing their bravery.
Tigers were regarded as a valued animal for Japanese because their skin was good for a rug and their bones were used as natural medicine but they did not inhabit in Japan.
The unifier of the time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, requested his warriors in Korea to send tiger’s flesh, bones and internal organs for his health.
The note on the box for the fangs here says: ‘the container for a big tiger’s fang and small tiger’s fang’. They have been handed down in the Netabi family as the fangs of the tigers which an ancestor of the family shot down. Since they have grinding marks, they might have been used for medicine.