Japan travel
A Photo Visit to a Japanese Flea Market
For me, a visit to the flea market is always an opportunity to see (and eventually learn) new “old” things. Because you never know what you can find… and even more so in Japan. ![]()
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Every year, during the Ueno Natsu Matsuri, an antique fair is held at the end of July, on the sakura alley near the Shinobazu Pond.

Generally, the children were most interested customers… ![]()
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… but the adults were no exception, especially the elders…
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Some were taking photos…
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… but many were just looking and just a few were buying, so it’s no surprise too see that a few sellers were bored…
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However, most of them were attentive, greeting the potential customers like everywhere else in Japan. ![]()

A fair like this is usually a good opportunity for collectors and tourists to see a wide range of old items, suiting all tastes…
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… from stands with beads and accessories (not so interesting to me)…
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… to old traditional clothing…
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… mixed, to my surprise, with the omnipresent blue jeans…
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Many stands with kitchenware…
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… glasses, plates, vases…
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… teacups, teapots…
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Like in every country, many books and old magazines…

… but also some posters…

For me, the most interesting were the statues, like these two Nio guardians.

Here I stumbled upon a shop with many old Buddhist statues…
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… all of them quite interesting…

… but probably the most interesting item was the big Lapis lazuli skull from the showcase:

I admired a big collection of animal statues…
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… including many beautiful statues with owls, of all sizes…

… a horn painted with a beautiful golden dragon…

… and a lot of statues with cute kitties (after all, we’re in Japan
)…

Two old teapots, a porcelain vase with dragons, and an interesting statue… is it Momotaro, maybe?

I also enjoyed the bells…

… but by far my favorite items (and the only ones really specific to Japan) were the kamon stamps. There were probably several hundred models:

I liked them so much that I would have bought them all… ![]()






