inro; seal case; pill box; medicine case
A traditional Japanese case consisting of stacked compartments, originally used to carry seals and medicine, often worn suspended from the obi.
He wore an inro hanging from his obi.
This inro is from the Edo period.
Variant kanji form using 篭 instead of 籠; less common.
Katakana spelling, sometimes used for emphasis or in contexts where the object is presented as a traditional artifact.
Compound of 印 (in, 'seal') and 籠 (rō, 'basket' or 'container'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word refers to a traditional multi-compartment case.