We (N° 1 sprog and yours truly) are in Oxford, staying with a dear friend, at the beginning of a tour of UK universities. Before the visit got underway, this morning we went to the new Ashmolean museum. The netsuke to the left is, in reality, tiny (I took a photograph of a poster) and is just one of a series of fascinating objects on display. Note the rat’s tail and the rat catcher’s expression of anger and frustration. Exquisite!