Menuki with the pattern of Tiger (Tora - 虎).

Menuki Omote: Length 48.5mm, Width 19mm, Height 4.5mm

Menuki Ura: 49mm length, 19mm width, 3.5mm height

The tiger is a feared and revered animal in Japan, representing protection, power, courage and ferocity. It has the ability to ward off evil spirits, diseases and bad luck.
It is therefore often associated with the military and samurai/bushi. It was even the nickname of a great warlord of the Sengoku period, Takeda Shingen, nicknamed 'The Tiger Of Kai'.

Note that there are no tigers in Japan. The old representations are always very strange because the artists drew them based mainly on descriptions. Some have still been able to see them during trips to China, Korea and Siberia

In beliefs, the tiger is one of the guardians of the 4 Orients with the Dragon (East/water), the Phoenix (South/fire), the turtle (North/earth). The celestial tiger, called Byakko 白虎, is the guardian of the West and represents metal. As the kanji indicate, he is depicted as a white tiger, a color he acquired after living 500 years.

The dragon and tiger are often depicted together in painting, representing the protectors of the East and the West, the Ying and the Yang.