Shop Talk…Akariya Kanarusha

I am often asked for suggestions on buying antiques in Tokyo, so this is the first in a series called “Shop Talk”. One of my favorite antique shops, Kanarusha in Fuchu (near the American School) is the perfect mix of a beautifully arranged store with a dusty but treasure filled backroom and attic, providing the best of both worlds. There are items for the immediate gratification folks to take home on the spot and lots to dig through for those who love to make their own discoveries. To clear up a bit of confusion on the name, Akariya is the name of the parent company and also of their high-end shop in the Yoyogi area, while this store is actually called Kanarusha. Rarely do I stop by the more polished shop in Yoyogi, preferring instead the more casual warehouse-style store. Drop in and let Ohashi-san and his staff help you chose just the right piece for your home.

Inside is a treasure trove of objects…

Tansu of every style and region…

An unusual golden mizuya (kitchen) tansu…

In the back rooms, there are shelves filled with everything imaginable, including these ikebana (flower arranging) baskets…

These shelves have iron lanterns, inlaid hibachi (small charcoal heaters) and vintage milk glass fixtures…

Speaking of hibachi, they have this gorgeous imperial lacquer one…

They also have a number of beautiful byobu (screens) including this unusual two-panel made of fabric using a wax resist dye technique and adorned with embroidered details. I think William Morris would have loved this piece.

Here’s a close-up of the detail on the spider web and thistles…

Cranes are lucky and represent long life in Japanese art. This 1930s copper vase inlaid with silver cranes is signed by the artist. Frankly, Art Deco pieces can be rarer than 19th century ones.

Ohashi-san’s pick? This extraordinary choba tansu (merchants chest) from Yonazawa Prefecture made of solid keyaki wood. The gorgeous burl wood has its original finish in dreamy condition. Inside is a shelf and small compartments.

My pick? It has to go to this amazing Meiji period mizuya tansu from the Biwa Lake region near Kyoto. It is super long – a full 105 inches – and the staff have only ever seen one other like it in 30 years of antique dealing. I can just imagine it lining a long wall of a kitchen instead of cabinets. Talk about a room-making piece of furniture.

In addition to the items mentioned above, Akariya specializes in antique doors and ranma transom panels, which can be customzied and used in new construction (building a house anyone?)

A few more great things about Kanarusha…They have their own workshop for repairs and customizations and their restoration is always sympathetic and natural. They are also happy to work with international customers over email with photos and they will ship around the world.

The big news is that Kanarusha is having its big annual Autumn Sale next weekend from Saturday, October 30 – Wednesday, November 3. Everything is 20-35% off the already reasonable prices. The shop is open 10a.m. – 7p.m. (an hour later than usual).

The really big news is that Tokyo Jinja readers can start shopping at sale prices now!! Just stop in between now and Wednesday, October 27 (Kanarusha is closed for set up on Thursday and Friday) and mention the blog and you can have first pick before the big sale starts. You may have to wade through as things are not fully set up for the sale, but isn’t that the best kind of antique shopping anyway?

Interested in tansu? You might want to read my post from last month “What’s Cooking? Tansu in the Kitchen”.

Driving directions from Tokyo: Take Shuto #4 (Chuo Expressway) to the Chofu exit and head towards Fuchu after the toll as if going to ASIJ. Pass the turn at Ajinimoto Stadium and keep going straight on Route 20 for 2 km. There will be a rise in the road (bridge over the train tracks) and at the next light called Shiraitodai Police Box intersection (Family Mart is on the right hand corner) take a right. Kanarusha is immediately on your left. Parking is available.

Image credits: All courtesy of Kanarusha and taken either by me or Ohashi-san.

Oct 23, 2010 By tokyojinja in Shop Talk 14 Comments Tags: baskets, byobu, doors, furniture, ikebana, japanese antiques, lacquer, lighting, porcelain, ranma, screens, tansu

A Shrine Sale By Any Other Name…Is Really A Flea Market

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
Romeo and Juliet

Only a true antiques junkie would find the promise of wonderful flea markets the big consolation prize for moving half way around the world. But what’s a shrine sale? At a jinja? A house of worship didn’t seem like a logical place to hold a bustling flea market.

A jinja (also jingu) is the Japanese word for a Shinto shrine, as opposed to a Buddhist temple (tera, sometimes said dera and the kanji can also be read as ji). Throughout the centuries, markets have been held on the grounds as they were central meeting places.

At the entrance to the jinja stands a large torii or gate, marking the separation of the mundane and the sacred. Shrine sales tend to be held in the outer courtyards and grounds.

The information below is a basic schedule of shrine sales near central Tokyo, as well as some special markets and events in the Kanto plains region. It is in no way comprehensive and decidedly skewed towards the location of my home. It will appear as a permanent tab at the top of the blog (near the “about me” tab) for ease and convenience. I will be updating and adding to it in the coming weeks, including adding sections on Yokohama and Kyoto. In the meantime, feel free to email me at jacquelinewein[at]yahoo.com with questions.

Shrine Sale and Antique Market Schedule Autumn/Winter 2010

First Sunday of the Month

Togo Shrine – 3 min walk from Harajuku station (JR Yamanote line) or a 5 min walk from Jingumae station (Chiyoda line). This is probably the most foreigner friendly shrine sale because of the convenient location and large number and variety of dealers. I think prices can be slightly higher here.
Oedo Antique Market at International Forum http://antique-market.jp/eng/index.shtml See map as there are many subway choices. There is also plenty of parking available. A very large market, with about 1/3 non-Japanese items in a very convenient and pleasant shady setting.

Second Sunday of the Month

Nogi Shrine – Next to Nogizaka station (Chiyoda line). Not held in November. A conveniently located small sale with nice dealers.

Third Sunday of the Month

Oedo Antique Market at International Forum http://antique-market.jp/eng/index.shtml Not held in December. See map as there are many subway choices. There is also plenty of parking available. See above for description. I prefer the third Sunday market to the first Sunday market.

Every Sunday of the Month

Yaskuni Shrine – 5 minute walk from Kudanshita Station ( Tozai Line, Hanzomon Line or Toei Shinjuku Line) or 10 minute walk from Ichigaya Station (Namboku Line, Yurakucho Line, Toei Shinjuku Line or JR Sobu Line). Parking lot on site. This market varies from weekend to weekend but can be excellent.
Hanazono Shrine – 6-7 minute walk from Shinjuku Sanchome station (Toei Shinjuku, Marunouchi lines). An historic market that has really dwindled to very little over the years. Most days I give it the pass, although it is conveneient to stop by if you are already traveling to Yaskuni-jinja.

First Saturday of the Month

Patio Street in Azabu Juban – 3 minute walk from Aazbu Juban station (Toei Oedo, Namboku lines). A small sale with about 10 vendors, but easy and convenient to stop by.

28th of every Month

Kawagoe, an old castle town 40km north of Tokyo has one of the best shrine sales on the grounds of Narita-san Betsu-in. It is about 10-15 minute walk from Hon-Kawagoe station on the Seibu Shinjuku line. You can also take other trains to Kawagoe station, which is a further walk. There is parking, but it tends to fill by early in the morning. A very large sale with unusual and high quality dealers. My de-facto favorite!

Other Events

Heiwajima Antique Fair is a huge antiques fair with hundreds of dealers held 4 times a year In the Ryutsu Center. Expect high quality merchandise (and sometimes prices to match) as well as lots of Western antiques. Tokyo Ryutsu Center station on the Tokyo Monorail–change trains at JR line Hamamatsucho station. Plenty of paid parking is also available.

September 24-26
December 17-19

Enjoy!

Sep 21, 2010 By tokyojinja in Shrine Sales and Flea Markets 3 Comments Tags: japanese antiques

What’s Cooking? Tansu in the Kitchen

People are often surprised by the limited variety of traditional and antique Japanese furniture. Historically, rooms were open spaces, used for a variety of functions. There were no sofas or armchairs or beds. Small low tables used by day could be cleared and bedding laid out to be used by night. Large chests or cupboards, called tansu, were used to store everything from clothing to bedding to kitchen utensils. Tansu also functioned as the “business centers” of merchants and sea captains. In the Edo period, tansu size, design and decoration were indicative of status and rigidly controlled. With the advent of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, tansu design was freed from control and regional centers developed their own vernacular.

Styles of tansu include the well-known kaidan-dansu (step cupboard) used for both storage and access to upper floors, the rare and unusual kuruma-dansu (wheeled chest) which could be easily moved, many different styles of isho-dansu (clothing chest) used to store kimono, choba-dansu (merchants chest) used to store valuables and documents and, for the purposes of this post, mizuya-tansu (kitchen cupboard), which were the heart of kitchen storage. Like many tansu, mizuya tansu were made of two horizontal cabinet pieces that stacked one above the other, allowing for movement and flexibility, although they lack the carrying handles often found on smaller tansu. While depth is fairly constant, width can vary from narrow styles (30-40″) which tend to have simpler more symmetrical fronts to wider styles (60-80″) in which it is common to have an asymmetrical design with varied small doors and drawers. A particularly charming detail that is commonly found is a sliding door lined with chicken wire or paper allowing for some visual display and air movement.

Today, adding a tansu into a design scheme is easy, as they work in both traditional and modern settings. Michael Smith uses a beautiful Edo period mizuya tansu in a completely modern kitchen, just in the manner for which it was designed.

In the Japanese-inspired kitchen designed by Marguerite Rogers and featured in House Beautiful, traditional sliding doors based on tansu were used for the kitchen cabinets. The iron work details and wood joinery mimic the tradional techniques found on antique tansu.

Compare the details of the iron work and the wooden joinery on these new cabinets with the details on the antique ones above. Pretty amazing how the dishwasher has been disguised.

Modern day cabinet companies such as Greentea are also looking to tansu for kitchen cabinet design. Kim at Desire to Inspire worked with them to create her dream kitchen. In addition to cabinets, she chose a free-standing tansu for extra storage.

And of course, there is no reason why you cannot use your mizuya tansu anywhere else in the house. They are great in the dining room, holding bed linens or clothes in the bedroom, hiding knitting stashes and all sorts of junk. Some later mizuya or choba tansu have glass panels for display – they too work perfectly in kitchens and dining rooms.

I have a large tansu, probably meant for shop display, but similar in shape to a mizuya tansu. I currently use it as a bookcase in my guest bedroom, but bought it with dreams of a large kitchen. Can’t you just see it in a kitchen, stacked full of transferware, glass and silver?

Image credits:1. V. Felgner, 2 & 3. Okura Antiques, 4. me, 5. via Chinoiserie Chic, 6-9. via House Beautiful, photo credit Eric Piasecki, 10-12. via Desire to Inspire, 13. K. Morganstern, 14. me

Sep 17, 2010 By tokyojinja in Furniture, Interior Design, Kitchens 10 Comments Tags: japanese antiques, michael smith, tansu