Sunday Antique Market

Perhaps it is time for a useful post? People sometimes ask me to recommend things to do in Tokyo and one of the ideas I usually give is the Sunday antique markets. There’s a whole bunch of them all around Tokyo most Sunday afternoons, the only trick is to figuring out which one is on at which time. I have a few favorites, the markets at Ueno Shinobazu Koen, Yasukuni Shrine, Togo Shrine, Hanazono Shrine and this one, at the Yurakucho Internationl Forum, for example, the Oedo Antique Fair (大江戸骨董市). Yesterday on my way somewhere else I passed through the weekly market and had time to take a few photos. I agree – terrible photos and nothing creative here at all. Just some snaps to show you what it looks like. Next time I go I’ll try to get some nicer shots of the actual antiques.

There’s a useful, although incomplete list of craft fairs, antique markets and flea markets on this web calendar, in Japanese only. And one more similar calendar here. Fun trivia – in Japanese the word Flea and Free is written exactly the same in Katakana, leading many Japanese to believe that the term “flea market” is actually “free market”. So don’t be surprised if someone talks about “free markets”.

Also, if you are into antiques and in Tokyo in December, don’t miss the Heiwajima Antique Show, the oldest antique market in Japan, December 16, 17 and 18 this year.