Like antiques? Whether you are in Japan for a short stay or here for the long haul, you may be interested in purchasing some Japanese-style antique furniture or other knickknack to take home with you. If you are in the market, you are in the right place.
Antiques are in no short supply in Japan. I am personally a big fan of “Tansu Chests” like this one. They are not cheap, but I’m dreaming of getting one of my own someday. Then I’ll just need someone to help me carry it!
First is Antique Flandre, アンティークフランドル in Minatoku; towards the port. This store has a much better online catalogue, and though I have not been there myself, it seems to have a very large selection. If you are looking for 6 chairs, this might be the spot to start. The shop is actually a European antique store with a focus on British, French, Dutch and Belgian furniture.
The following three stores can be found by walking along the left side of the JR tracks from Nagoya station. They are all under the tracks, and you can spend quite a bit of time walking in the area. There are several shops, if not more, that specifically sell antiques, and a selection of other types of shops that make for a great waste of a lazy Saturday!
Under the train tracks.
Under the train tracks.
Under the train tracks.
My favorite is Antique Market Fukiage, アンティークマーケット吹上. Antique Market is just a short walk from Fukiage Station, and comprises 5 floors of wall to wall things to buy. It will probably take you an hour to peruse it all, and they have everything from cheap little knick-knacks of note to expensive sculpture and last time I was there they even had a full 1920’s style bar. Dark woods, mirrors, and stools to make any man wish he had a den! It is a highly recommended destination.
If you are in the market for an item, or just feel like browsing aisles filled with beautiful or interesting old stuff, you can find what you seek at one of these shops. If you know of other antique shops in or around Nagoya, or just have a comment for us, please leave a comment here, or Join the conversation in progress either Japan Info Swap Facebook Page, or Twitter.
Antique Market Fukiage Map
Did you ever wonder about those four strange magnets, a yellow and green leaf, an orange and yellow leaf, a blue and white clover, or a yellow and green butterfly, sometimes conspicuously attached to the front and rear of cars all over Japan? I was really hoping for a conspiracy, but in fact they are used to identify drivers with special needs to other drivers. These drivers must display them or face fines and lose points from their license.
The green and yellow leaf design identifies novice drivers, and its fresh green leaves are supposed to symbolize youth. If you use a Japanese driver’s license, you may also have had to put that “beginner” mark on your vehicle. This mark generally identifies drivers with less than one year experience behind the wheel, but it is also required for most foreign drivers who convert their licenses after coming to Japan.
Try to think of it as a “novice Japan driver” mark, rather than a “beginner” mark, because choosing to spare yourself the indignity of displaying your “beginner” status by leaving the mark off will cost you.
If cited for failure to display a required mark, 1 point will be deducted from your driver’s license, and you will pay a 14,000+ fine.
The orange and yellow leaf design used to identify elderly drivers, and appears to symbolize seniors in the autumn of their life. It may seem a bit macabre to choose a dying leaf to represent seniors, and Japan`s elderly population shares that sentiment.
Usage of this mark was previously required, but public outcry forced the government to back down, and now the mark is voluntary, but encouraged, for drivers over 70 years of age.
A new design replaced the unpopular dead leaf version.
The new design is shaped like a clover, brightly colored in lime green, green, yellow, and red. The clover is drawn around the English letter S in the center. This either stands for senior, or superman; I lean towards the latter.
Interestingly, the new mark resembles the wildcard from the game Uno. At the end of this year that design will become the official one and its use once again will be required.
Either mark seems a bit redundant, as elderly drivers are easily spotted by their habit of driving well below the speed limit. Again, the mark is voluntary, but encouraged, for drivers over 70 years of age.
A mark you might be less familiar with is the blue and white clover. This mark identifies a driver with a physical disability. I won’t pretend to know why a clover was chosen for this design, or why they decided against the wheelchair design used almost everywhere else in the world.
In the US, a shamrock symbolizes good luck and would be a strange choice for a driver suffering from a disability. This mark is also voluntary, but its use is encouraged for the physically disabled who drive regular vehicles.
Unlike other countries, this mark is not required to utilize disabled parking areas, and so anyone can buy one, and they are available in stores next to other marks if you want to pick one up.
The least common of these marks is the green and yellow butterfly indentifying hearing impaired drivers. A driver who is unable to hear a 90 decibel car horn at a distance of 10 meters with both ears is required to display this mark on their car. Once you know what it means, it would be pretty easy to decide the wings are actually ears, but it is in fact a butterfly.
The design is a joke based on something like a homophone, or a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The word for hearing in Japanese is Chyoukaku, and the word for butterfly is chyou. That is how a picture of a butterfly was chosen to symbolize hearing impaired drivers; cute, right?
These marks protect vulnerable or inexperienced drivers on the road, and I suppose us from them as well. When you encounter a vehicle bearing one of these special there are some things to keep in mind. Even if the dying leaf in front of you is driving too slowly, you may not pass too close or cut off a vehicle bearing one of these marks except to avoid a danger or hazard. If you do you will be cited by the police, pay a minimum fine of 6,000+, and lose 1 point from your license.
This is not a particularly steep fine, but the police will additionally cite you for passing too closely, etc as well. These multiple citations can put you in danger of getting your license suspended, which occurs automatically when you accrue 6 points against your driving record.
As I said, I was really hoping for a conspiracy to explain these magnets, but even if the truth is less interesting, you can still use it to amaze your friends, impress your family when they come to visit, and answer at least one question correctly if you ever take the driver’s license test in Japan. If you are interested exploring a little further, you can see a collection of Japanese street signs and their meanings, at www.japandriverslicense.com.
Tea; from the ever present green varieties that line shelves in the convenience stores here, to the black varieties that my English and Australian room-mates preferred when I first arrived, living in Japan has been an learning experience. As an American, and especially one from Seattle, it is hard to see past the espresso machine, but I have managed to overcome that to an extent and have opened my mind to other possibilities.
You can buy and drink it without much thought, but tea is complex enough to warrant dedicated study. I first discovered tea through my interest in Japanese culture and the tea ceremony. I took a class at university where I thought I was signing up to learn how to pour tea, but ended up learning about tea as a way of life.
The technical details of growing, harvesting, and producing tea, the varieties of tea, the art and architecture of tea houses and gardens, and finally the act of producing the tea were all presented with nearly equal importance. In the end, I found that I actually preferred tea gardens to making tea, but that is a subject for another day!
Today, we will cover a few basics of tea and the tea ceremony, and suggest a few places where you can experience a Japanese Tea Ceremony.
From Captain Picard’s Earl Grey on Star Trek (yup, I’m a geek), the English Breakfast from countless movies, to my mother’s Sleepytime herbal tea, Tea is tea. It all comes from the same plant; Camellia sinensis. The different types of tea, excluding additives like herbs, are classified using the techniques used to produce and process it. Fermentation seems to be the most important factor in classifying teas.
It might be assumed that black tea became popular in the west due to the distance from the source of the tea to the market- over time the tea would ferment, arriving in England and America as black tea, while Asia became accustomed to the fresh unfermented variety due to its proximity to the source.
Green tea is what is used in Japanese Tea Ceremonies. Green tea as well has many varieties within the classification.
Gyokuro, Kabusecha, Kabusecha, Sencha, Fukamushicha, Tamaryokucha, Bancha, Kamairicha, Kukicha, Mecha, Konacha, Macha
The last variety, macha, or powdered tea, is the variety used in making tea for the ceremony, and can be cheaply purchased from the supermarket, or from specialty shops for more money than I care to think about spending on tea.
Also referred to as the Way of Tea, the Japanese tea ceremony elevates the preparation and presentation of powdered green tea to a ceremonial activity of great cultural significance. Powdered green tea is skillfully and elegantly prepared by the host for guests. Every hand movement is purposeful and graceful.
Each is precise and disciplined expression honed only through years of training. Becoming a master of this art requires not only mastering the ceremony itself, but everything that surrounds it. Other traditional art forms like calligraphy and flower arranging, as well as knowledge of relevant architecture and gardening allow a masterful host to select and decorate an appropriate location that will transport their guest outside of their reality, and into the reality of the ceremony.
The tea ceremony embodies the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, centered on the inherently transient nature of the world around us. This aesthetic is a guiding principal of the Way of Tea, and celebrates beauty in that which is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. A well made tea cup, old, broken and repaired is more likely to be revered than a new tea cup, for example. All utensils and equipment used to make tea, collectively called chadogu, are carefully selected to complement the ceremony, and are frequently changed to reflect the environment of a particular ceremony-a winter, versus a spring ceremony, for example. The basics utensils are:
Many of these items can become quite old and revered, and whole museums are filled with the most notable of them. In Nagoya, The Tokugawa Art Museum, and in Tokyo, The Sumitomo Art Musuem have extensive collections of tea utensils that embody the Japanese wabi-sabi esthetic.
I will not spend time detailing the actual ceremony. If you have never seen one, I recommend you see a video online, or better yet, go experience one live. Here are a few locations in Tokyo and Nagoya where you can experience a real tea ceremony.
Tel.: 03-3504-1111 (switchboard)
Add.: 4F, Main Bldg., 1-1-1, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Access: Near Hibiya Sta. on Subway Hibiya, Chiyoda or Toei Mita Line
Closed: Sun., National Holidays and Aug. 1-15
Fee: ¥1,500
Note: Prior reservation is necessary. Served in a tatami-mat room.
Tel.: 03-3582-0111 (switchboard)
Add.: Main Bldg. 7F, 2-10-4, Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Access: NearToranomon Sta. on Subway Ginza Line, Kamiyacho Sta. on Subway Hibiya Line, or Roppongi-itchome Sta. on Subway Namboku Line
Fee: ¥1,050 (Card acceptable)
Note: Prior reservation is necessary. Served either in a tatami-mat room or on chairs.
Tel.: 03-3265-1111 (switchboard)
Add.: 7F, Tower, 4-1, Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Access: Near Akasaka-mitsuke Sta. on Subway Ginza and Marunouchi Line, or Nagatacho Sta. on Subway Yurakucho and Hanzomon Line
Fee: ¥ 1,050 (cash only)
Note: Better to make an appointment. Reservation is required for a group of over 7 persons. Served in a tatami-mat room.
Tel.: 03-3361-2446 (switchboard)
Add.: Chado Kaikan, 3-39-17, Takadanobaba, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Access: 10 min. walk from Takadanobaba Sta. on JR Yamanote Line, Seibu-Shinjuku Line and Subway Tozai Line or take a bus bound for “Otakibashi-Shako” to Takadanobaba 4-chome Bus Stop.
Fee: ¥2,000
Note: Prior reservation is necessary. For more detail, please inquire by phone.
Tel.: 03-3443-3775
Add.: 1-1-6, Shiroganedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Access: 15 min. walk from Meguro Sta. on JR Ymamanote Line, Subway Namboku Line and Mita Line
Fee: Tea ceremony: ¥ 2,100(Ryurei), ¥ 3,150(Hiroma) and ¥ 5,000(Koma) 30 min. Just tea and sweets served: ¥ 840 15min.
Note: Reservation is required at least 3 days in advance. Tea is served to the seated guests either on tatami or on chairs (Ryurei).
Tel.: 03-5225-0787
Add.: 1-4, Kora-cho, Ichigaya, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Access: 5 min. from Ushigomeyanagi-cho Sta. on Toei Subway Oedo Line
Fee: ¥5,000 ; cash only
Note: All tea lessons, tea presentaions, etc are performed in English. Reservation is required at least one day in advance. For more detail, please inquire by phone. Served either in tatami-mat room or on chairs.
Tel: 05-2731-8590
Access: Tsurumai Subway Line, Tsurumai Station
Fee: ¥500
Note: Limit of 200 people, first come first serve, In September
Tel:05-2962-6153
Access: Meijo Subway Line Shiyaku-sho Station
Note: October 9, 10, 11
Fee: ¥800 (on day), ¥600 (in advance) plus Nagoya Castle admission fee
Tel: 05-2681-8928
Access: Meijo Subway Line Jingu-nishi Station
Note: Mid September and Mid November
Tel: 052-831-2672
Access: Sakuradori Subway Line Mizuho-kuyakusyo Station
Note: 12 Minutes walk from station
Fee: about once a month on Wednesday; 8 Sept, 6 Oct, 8 Dec; ¥300
Website
Tel: 0568-61-4608
Access: MEITETSU INUYAMA YUEN station
Note: 7 minutes walk from station
Fee: Adult 1000 yen; Children 600 yen
Tel: 05-2935-8988
Access: JR Chuo Line Ohzone Station Note: 12 Minutes walk from Station
Note: in October
Hiorshige Kato is a fourteenth generation pottery master – his family were one of only four families to be protected by the Shogunate from the warring state in order to make tea ceremony goods for Nagoya Castle.
Over the years Studio Kasen has gone through several transformations and in its heyday was the heart of the Akazu pottery area in Seto. Now the little gallery and studio sit atop a little hill in Seto, and Kato-Sensei offers classes in pottery, both making it and glazing it. The class costs 2500 per adult and only 500 yen for him to glaze and fire whatever you want to keep, so it’s a great way to stock up on home-made souvenirs from the heart of Japan which will really remind you of your time here every time you use it.
Children are also welcome, and Kato-Sensei gives all the extra help needed for pottery to look professional, first time.
Take a look at the English website, with the fascinating history of the Kato family, the seven typical glazes of the district, and a map of the area.
Close to Owari-Seto Station. Passing the station on your left, continue on until you get to Koseto lights where you turn right. Continue on until you almost reach the intersection Akazu, and turn up the tiny little road that veers up to the left. Follow this until you see the black studio on the right.
Studio Kasen Studio tours and classes by appointment only
E-mail (English OK): mail@kasen-web.com
You can get an International Driving Permit (IDP) based on your Japanese driver’s license. The permit is valid for one year from the date of issue and must be used in conjunction with your Japanese License. The process of getting an IDP generally takes one hour, and requires a visit to a license center within the prefecture you live during business hours.
Please note that license centers may offer this service only during specific times, or on specific days. Addittionally, while the requirements should remain the same, procedures at each license center will vary, so please be aware that your specific location may be different from what is detailed here.
Find your local license center here.
You can find additional information on IDPs and Japanese Driver’s Licenses through the following links
Using International Drivers Licenses in Japan
Converting your Foreign License to a Japanese Driver’s License
You can get an international Driving Permit (IDP) from Japan based on your Japanese driver’s license. The permit is valid for one year from the date of issue and must be used in conjunction with your Japanese license.
The process takes less than one hour, and requires a visit to the license center in your area during office hours; generally Monday-Friday from 8:45-12 and 12:45-3:00 pm.
These instructions are tailored for Nagoya, but they are generally accurate for Japan more broadly. You can read a location generic version of these instructions here.
Primary Center for Aichi Prefecture
Hirabari Minami 3-605,
Tenpaku-cho, Tenpaku-ku, Nagoya
Tel. 052-801-3211
Smaller Satelite Center for Aichi Prefecture
Kanaya-nishi-machi 2-7
Toyokawa, Aichi
Tel. 0533-85-7181
You can find additional information on IDPs and Japanese Driver’s Licences through the following links
International Drivers Licenses in Japan
Converting your Foreign License to a Japanese Driver’s License