Flea Market (not really) Treasures!

Yesterday was November 1 and the day of one of my favorite shrine sales- flea markets that are held on the grounds of a large shrine.  Clear, sunny weather and the barest hint of crispness in the air made it the perfect day to dig through old brocade obi, silk kimono, and tea ceremony utensils.  Nothing major caught my eye, but I did leave with two small finds- a set of small plates and a pretty iron container.

I conveniently had Japanese class last night, so I was excited to ask my teacher to tell me more about my flea market treasures.  First of all, she had no idea what a "shrine sale" was.  The Japanese call them plain old "furii maaketto".  I scribbled the new term on my vocab list.  

Next, I showed her my set of plates.  Sets of things are sold in threes or fives in Japan, as opposed to our familiar American set of four.  The word for four in Japanese- shi- is the same word for death.  So to sell things in sets of four would be incredibly bad luck.  This works out for me, as an American, because then I have an extra plate if one breaks.  My instructor told me that my plates can be used for many different types of food, and that the decoration on the surface is the takenoha, or bamboo leaf.  

I was pleased with myself for having scored such poetic plates at such a good price (1000 yen, or about $12.50), so I pulled out my next purchase for explanation- an iron bowl with a sakura (cherry blossom)  decorated lid.

Our Japanese apartment is much larger than the equivalent military base housing that we'd qualify for, but it still doesn't have the storage space that the typical American house does. Since moving to Japan, I've because a collector of storage containers.  I have wooden chests for my kimono and obi, woven Thai baskets for loose change and bathroom washcloths, a painted Tibetan box for Little TF's toys, and trays to catch and organize odds and ends. 

Our bathroom has been a particular frustration with only one small cabinet and a few drawers under the sink.  To free up space for toothpaste and contact solution, I bought a tray for the counter and use the more attractive toiletries to make a small display, with containers hiding our often-used items.  The large iron container in the back has an all-over cherry blossom pattern and holds q-tips, while the ceramic vessel at the front has blue and white illustrations of seasonal foliage and holds my hair ties and bobby pins.  Both of these vessels, with their perforated lids, are incense burners and I picked them up at furii maaketto for a song.  I've been looking for one last incense burner to hold my makeup sponges, so when I saw the cherry blossom-lidded bowl with a mere 300 yen price tag, I pounced.

Our bathroom toiletry tray.

I held up the iron bowl and lid to show my teacher.


"And what is this item?  I think it's an incense burner; it looks just like my other ones." -Me, excitedly.

"That is an ashtray." - My Japanese language teacher, matter-of-factly.

"............an......ashtray......?  Really?"  -Me, confused.

"Yes.  This type of ashtray is called a nanbutetsu.  It's made of iron!  It's very nice." -My teacher, teaching.

"I don't smoke.  I thought this was an incense burner. I bought this to hold my makeup sponges." -Me, totally deflated.

"REALLY?"  -My teacher, wide-eyed in amazement.

"Yes.  Here are my other ones.  Are these actually incense burners?  Or are they also ashtrays?" -Me, dragging out my toiletry containers and pulling out handfuls of hair ties and q tips.

"Oh yes, those are incense containers.  Just your new one is the ash tray.  You can put whatever you want in them, of course."  -My teacher, giggling now.


I am sure she went back to her family at the end of our lesson and regaled them with the story of her student who puts personal care products inside of Japanese incense burners and ash trays.  That's fine.  It's pretty funny, now that I'm over the shock.  I'm just glad I found out.  I have a new personal rule:  always wash an ash tray before using it to store makeup sponges. Just another day of bumbling around Japan!


Disclaimer:  I do my best to make sure all my information is accurate.  However, details may change or I may just be flat-out wrong.  Please let me know if something needs a correction.  Thank-you!