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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 11:27:13 GMT
Every weekend many shrines in Japan have sales. Some are flea markets, some are mostly antiques, and many are a mix of both. Some sales are small with around 30-40 vendors, whilst others are much larger with up to 200 stalls. The most recent one I went to in December had 700 stalls! Click on the link to see some of my photos of the type of things they sell. FYI it's not cheap either - much like everything else in Japan. It's nice to walk around the shrine grounds and take a look at what's on offer though! photos |
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Kerri W
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Posts: 3,836 
Location: Kentucky
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Post by Kerri W on Jan 24, 2015 11:32:04 GMT
I enjoyed the pictures-thanks for sharing! There are a few pictures of a cylinder with a ball on top...some of the balls have faces. What are those? They kind of look like dolls of a sort.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 11:35:18 GMT
Yasui omiyage desu ne! I wish I had had that option when I came home and had to bring stuff for everyone. I am sure you found some cool stuff.
We had a flea market in Fukuoka at Ohori koen a long time ago and I got a new with tag sweater that I loved. It was really cool. Loved the flea markets.
Where is the market? Are you near Tokyo? I can't imagine you live in Shijuku but are you in that area or are you in Chiba or Saitama? We got tenkin there a long time ago and for whatever it got cancelled. (I put up a fuss because I didn't want to go...) so DH' kaisha said we didn't have to go. That was a good thing.
Do you do stuff like go to Costco? Disney? Daibutsu in Chiba? That kind of thing? Did you watch the Sumo Basho on TV in January? It's in Tokyo for Ichi gatsu, right? I know the November basho is in Fukuoka and we would see the guys walking around our area in yukata getting obento at 7-11 day and night. Very cute!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 11:38:38 GMT
They're traditional kokeshi dolls - very popular with collectors. Handmade on lathes by artisans from different areas of Japan. Each artisan has their own facial features design and painted body patterns (usually flowers) . It's fun to collect them in different sizes from different areas. The photo in my profile pic is a modern kokeshi with wooden hair - but still no arms.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 11:43:56 GMT
@ellanah - I live near Shibuya station - so a couple of stops from Shinjuku. The photos are taken from various shrine sales around Tokyo and Kawagoe.
I go to Costco in Kawasaki about once a month, but I shop in local supermarkets mostly. I have been to Disney and the Daibutsu in Kamakura. I went to watch sumo last week for the first time since I had a visitor. Very cool:) Will have to go back in May with DH since he was out of town this month.
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Post by miss_lizzie on Jan 24, 2015 11:47:52 GMT
What great photos! I especially liked seeing maneki nekos. I've been to Japan and loved it and would love to go back again.
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Nicole in TX
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Post by Nicole in TX on Jan 24, 2015 11:49:45 GMT
Is that an American Girl doll in the middle of it all?  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 11:51:26 GMT
Just for you Elannah!  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 11:52:01 GMT
Is that an American Girl doll in the middle of it all? yup!! |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 11:59:07 GMT
Do you live in a house or in a mansion? We had a 3LDK mansion. It was nice but too close to everyone else. Drove me crazy hearing other people talking talking a bath. Gross. Do you eat Gaishoku or washoku? My shujin liked gaishoku. MIL used to get mad at me for not making rice often enough. I threw out rice more often than not so I just made it once or twice a week. He liked pasta of all sorts. Sometimes it was hard to get in those days, too. I have heard Fukuoka has become much more livable than it was. I mean how much Kraft Dinner can you eat? (I ate a LOT of it when I got sick of fish). Tokyo is different, though so I would think for gaijin it's easier sometimes to live there. I am not sure I could live with that many people. There were lots of people in Fukuoka but nothing like Tokyo.
Ima yoru no 20:00 desu ka?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 12:12:43 GMT
I live in a 4 bedroom house. We have a big dog and a cat so it's nice to have a yard where they can both go outside. The only noise we have to put up with is a yapping dog and a child who practices the recorder outside every day in the summer from the apartments next to us!! It's a ten minute walk to the craziness of Scramble Crossing, but my area is pretty quiet.
We are able to get western food fairly easily, but I can't bear to pay the hiked up prices at the international supermarkets ,so I just shop local and Costco. I don't cook much Japanese food, except curry and udon. There are a thousand restaurants in Shibuya, so I don't bother!! I cook regular English/American food that my family will eat. I do cook rice but I prefer long grain, basmati or Jasmine rice which is difficult to get here.
hai, yoru no 21:12 desu!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 13:33:14 GMT
My son doesn't seem to want to eat anything that isn't washoku. I tried to go grocery shopping for him in Vancouver at an IGA and it was all Chinese food. He tolerates that but he likes his Japanese food. We didn't have time to go to the Japanese grocery store. I wanted to get him a burner (what do you call them like a konro maybe gas konro? Can't remember and a metal pot for making sukiyaki and shabushabu because he likes both of them. He like his father like their menrui (between udon, ramen, champon, soba etc). He has a nice suihanki and he likes yakimeshi a lot. (I don't like how he makes it, but I don't have to eat it). He used to want miso shiru everyday so I made that for him, but he outgrew that. We went through the onigiri phase and I think he likes it, but would rather buy it. He likes tonkatsu, karaage, kare rice, some sushi but not tons, he won't eat gyu tataki, basashi, motsunabe (but only really Kyushu born people will eat that. I won't touch it. Blech!)
I forget how to make a lot of things too. I used to make spaghetti with demiglasse sauce (you know the Kyuupi brand), zosui, okonomiyaki, etc. but it's been a long time. I was a shuufu for a number of years and just go out of the habit. Plus he HATES teriyaki sauce. He will NOT TOUCH it ever. He says it gives him a stomach ache. Not sure how or why but he won't touch it. He used to eat Hayashi rice often too but I haven't made that in years either. You just get out of the habit of doing it. Sometimes the products are readily available in North American and sometimes not.
When he comes home again I will make him shabushabu again as that is his favourite and he can have it for lunch the next day.
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jan 24, 2015 13:53:52 GMT
Thanks for sharing the pictures. It's so interesting to see how things are so much the same and yet different all around the world. I am always fascinated with the street-side sellers that gather in various places on our trips to Africa. I'd stop at them all if I could! I love using the table linens, wooden figures, beaded wire stuff, and other items I've brought back -- it's a way to remember the trips in a very real way.
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eastcoastpea
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Jun 27, 2014 13:05:28 GMT
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Post by eastcoastpea on Jan 24, 2015 13:56:24 GMT
What fantastic photos, Kokeshi doll. If I could take photos as well as you I'd be doing it all the time.
Please tell me more about the flea markets. Do people haggle over the prices? What's the best deal you ever got? What's your most treasured purchase? What is the most outlandish thing you ever saw? Flea market vendors around here are not particularly friendly. How are they there?
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Post by anonrefugee on Jan 24, 2015 14:10:34 GMT
Thank you for the photos and unexpected doll information!
I have one from my uncle when his family lived there in the 60s. It has a sweet face and red paint. I've managed to find a corner for it most of my life.
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Post by heartcat on Jan 24, 2015 15:08:07 GMT
Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
I have to admit that seeing Batman and Charlie Chaplin among the more traditional Japanese items was amusing and somewhat unexpected and made me smile.
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calgal08
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Jun 27, 2014 15:43:46 GMT
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Post by calgal08 on Jan 24, 2015 16:02:43 GMT
OK, who else wants to do a thrifting trip to Tokyo?
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wellway
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Jun 25, 2014 20:50:09 GMT
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Post by wellway on Jan 24, 2015 16:21:01 GMT
Very interesting, I enjoyed looking at them. May I ask what the items in image 1751 are?
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eastcoastpea
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Post by eastcoastpea on Jan 24, 2015 16:25:46 GMT
OK, who else wants to do a thrifting trip to Tokyo? I do. I do. |
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Post by gramasue on Jan 24, 2015 17:05:31 GMT
Fascinating pictures! Thanks for sharing them. I love flea markets. Always something interesting!
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:03:24 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2015 1:15:03 GMT
What fantastic photos, Kokeshi doll. If I could take photos as well as you I'd be doing it all the time. Please tell me more about the flea markets. Do people haggle over the prices? What's the best deal you ever got? What's your most treasured purchase? What is the most outlandish thing you ever saw? Flea market vendors around here are not particularly friendly. How are they there? Japanese people tend to be extremely polite to each other, so the vendors are never pushy or rude. I don't speak Japanese apart from a few key phrases so I can ask the price of an item and say if I think its too expensive. Often the vendors will give a small discount without me asking, or throw in a cheaper item for free. Im not sure if much haggling happens, although I have seen the vendors in deep conversation with customers. However, nothing is really cheap like a garage sale. These people make their living traveling and selling at shrine sales. I suppose it's more like antique sale prices. I can't really remember the best deal I got as I often just go to browse rather than to buy. I think it might have been a large modern style kokeshi doll for $15 which sell for $80 new. I have many different styles of kokeshi dolls displayed around my house and every time I walk past their cute little faces it makes me smile! I've also bought a few obis (the wide embroidered belts for kimono) for table runners and place mats. I can pick them up for about $10. I'm currently looking for a tansu chest, but all the ones I like are way out of my price range. I would also like to buy some Japanese art, but I haven't seen anything I really like yet. Oh, and a really beautiful wedding kimono to hang on my wall. They cost a fortune though so I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a bargain! Sometimes I see extremely overpriced western items, which are fairly sought after here. Things that would sell at a garage sale for 25cents are often priced at $25 here. It makes me laugh! One of the funniest things I saw is a plastic Fred the Flourman flour sifter. It's in one of the photos. It's an English advertising cartoon character from the 1970's for Homepride flour. He's a typical English gentleman in a black suit and a bowler hat. My mom still has hers. I've seen them priced for about $80. I have had a few simple discussions with the sellers explaining what they are and why! |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2015 1:17:07 GMT
Very interesting, I enjoyed looking at them. May I ask what the items in image 1751 are? I think they are miniature wooden Buddhist shrines that people have in their homes for prayer purposes. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2015 2:31:47 GMT
LOL at the wedding kimono. I have 2 of them! I have the frurisode and the uchikake (they were both gifts.) I wore the frurisode to my wedding to exDh. It was a present from my okaasan and otousan there. It has a lot of sentimental value. The uchikake one (it is white/cream with a crane in red on it) is pretty but not my style. I didn't wear it. I would like to have a shiromuku (the white first kimono) for the wall, though. I think that would be neat. The uchikake one weighs about 15 lbs and the furisode is about 10 lbs (no obi as the obi weighs more).
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Post by birukitty on Jan 25, 2015 2:31:52 GMT
Thanks so much for posting these wonderful photos of the Tokyo Shrine sales. They were fascinating to look through and make me want to come back to Japan so much!
I noticed through reading the thread that you mentioned going to see the Daibutsu of Kamakura. It brought back memories of my time living in Japan in 1984. My friend and I drove to Kamakura from her house near the Navy base where her husband and my fiancee were stationed, intending to find and see the Daibutsu. We drove around and around and got so lost! Of course this was before the internet and we were young-both of us were 24. We never did find it and we wanted so much to see it and photograph this wonderful Great Buddha.
When I came back to Japan with DS in 2008 there wasn't enough time for a trip to Kamakura, but hopefully next time when I bring DH with me we can make that trip.
Thanks again for posting these amazing photos. There were such fun to look through!
Debbie in MD.
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PLurker
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Jun 28, 2014 3:48:49 GMT
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Post by PLurker on Jan 25, 2015 2:34:24 GMT
I so want to come play!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2015 2:34:49 GMT
I love Kamakura. It is one of the coolest places in all of Japan. The Daibutsu is amazing! Love that area. I have friends in Chiba as well and it is so pretty there. They aren't that far from Narita but far enough that they don't hear the noise from the airport.
I am a Hakata girl so this is all pretty foreign to me! I haven't been to Tokyo for a long time! We never went there as it was so expensive and if we did travel it was to see my parents or go somewhere on Kyushu or Hiroshima where his friends were.
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eastcoastpea
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Jun 27, 2014 13:05:28 GMT
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Post by eastcoastpea on Jan 25, 2015 15:16:47 GMT
What fantastic photos, Kokeshi doll. If I could take photos as well as you I'd be doing it all the time. Please tell me more about the flea markets. Do people haggle over the prices? What's the best deal you ever got? What's your most treasured purchase? What is the most outlandish thing you ever saw? Flea market vendors around here are not particularly friendly. How are they there? Japanese people tend to be extremely polite to each other, so the vendors are never pushy or rude. I don't speak Japanese apart from a few key phrases so I can ask the price of an item and say if I think its too expensive. Often the vendors will give a small discount without me asking, or throw in a cheaper item for free. Im not sure if much haggling happens, although I have seen the vendors in deep conversation with customers. However, nothing is really cheap like a garage sale. These people make their living traveling and selling at shrine sales. I suppose it's more like antique sale prices. I can't really remember the best deal I got as I often just go to browse rather than to buy. I think it might have been a large modern style kokeshi doll for $15 which sell for $80 new. I have many different styles of kokeshi dolls displayed around my house and every time I walk past their cute little faces it makes me smile! I've also bought a few obis (the wide embroidered belts for kimono) for table runners and place mats. I can pick them up for about $10. I'm currently looking for a tansu chest, but all the ones I like are way out of my price range. I would also like to buy some Japanese art, but I haven't seen anything I really like yet. Oh, and a really beautiful wedding kimono to hang on my wall. They cost a fortune though so I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a bargain! Sometimes I see extremely overpriced western items, which are fairly sought after here. Things that would sell at a garage sale for 25cents are often priced at $25 here. It makes me laugh! One of the funniest things I saw is a plastic Fred the Flourman flour sifter. It's in one of the photos. It's an English advertising cartoon character from the 1970's for Homepride flour. He's a typical English gentleman in a black suit and a bowler hat. My mom still has hers. I've seen them priced for about $80. I have had a few simple discussions with the sellers explaining what they are and why! Smart idea using obis for table runners and mats. I bet they look beautiful. I noticed Fred the Flourman in your pictures right away when I looked at them. I knew he had to be from some show or an advertising item. He's cute. I would want one if I found one for a great price. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you find a tansu chest and wedding kimono for bargain prices. I appreciate you giving details of your adventures. Thanks. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2015 16:38:11 GMT
I would look for a tansu in March when people are moving and they have soedai gomi no hi. (You know the big garbage day). exDH and I found a tansu in the garbage. It was huge and it was in mint condition. His buddy had it in their's and brought it over in their mini van. It held everything. Tansu are really expensive. I have seen some beautiful ones and they go for thousands of dollars. Ours was solid cherry I think and it was perfect. When people get tenkin (permanent transfers to other parts of the country they throw out everything and buy new). That's when I would look.
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Post by myboysnme on Jan 25, 2015 17:03:56 GMT
Love the American Girl doll in the middle of a bunch of heads |
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Post by Lexica on Jan 25, 2015 17:40:42 GMT
That was interesting! Thank you for sharing those photos. I saw several things that I would have wanted to know the price of, and a few things I would be interested to know what they were used for. I enjoy an outdoor flea market shopping experience.
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Time to get off the internet!
