Organic materials such as ivory, horn, tortoiseshell, shell, and lacquer have traditionally been inlaid into Japanese netsuke. In their natural form and when worked into artifacts, these materials are often identified by their morphological characteristics. However, in the case of netsuke, these characteristics are often lacking due to the small size of the inlay, which ranges from less than one to a few millimeters, and the small surface area available for examination. The small quantity of material present and undamaged condition of the inlay can preclude sampling in many cases. Results of examination and analysis of netsuke in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art are presented. The potential of Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-radiography, x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and microscopic examination to identify inlay materials is evaluated in order to develop a model for study of organic materials present in very small quantities on sculptural works.