In 1974, Raymond Bushell, a passionate netsuke collector, was able to have a photocopy made of the original Takarabukuro (Treasure Bag), a notebook kept by the netsuke artist, Mitsuhiro Ohara (1810-1875), and carefully preserved by his family. In it, Mitsuhiro set down brief descriptions of netsuke he had made, or was in the process of carving. The artist wrote in sosho, a cursive script from Japanese handwriting, best described as 'running script, ' and extremely difficult to read. Misao Mikoshiba undertook the laborious task of making a translation, and endeavor made especially difficult because of Mitsuhiro's handwriting. She produced a remarkable document, which, in the adapted form presented here, is a guide to one artist's creative world.