Tokyo Flea Market at Oie Racetrack

 Another favorite place to visit while we are in Tokyo is the Tokyo City Flea Market at the Oie Racetrack. This flea market is held every Sunday and has both regular sellers with collectibles/antiques and garage sale sellers.  It's worth it to look through both the undercover area and the open air section (household items).  We've found treasures selling for very little in both areas.

During our last visit to the Tokyo City Flea Market we happily scooped up more unique and gorgeous ceramic pieces.  Perhaps our best purchase was a large ceramic 'tanuki'. Tanukis  are badger-like animals which really exist in Japan and are considered lucky and believed to bring good fortune.  Japanese people will often place a tanuki figurine at their house entryway.  My husband has purchased several ceramic tanukis over the years but they were small and new.  We were excited to see the large tanuki for sale at such a reasonable price that we didn't even try to bargain for a lower price. (Online we found similar tanukis for several hundred dollars but ours was a steal for under $30!)  By looking inside the tanuki piece we could tell it was old because it obviously was hand pressed into the mold and had not been slip cast like a modern figurine.  Once cleaned up the large tanuki  is gorgeous and will proudly bring good luck to our home.

My favorite purchase from the flea market was a large, odd vase with firing cracks on the rim and a lovely, runny wood ash glaze. The seller of the vase was a little old lady who seemed pleased to know that her vase was flying home to Hawaii. I was pleased that this vase looks like a museum quality piece but cost me less than $8.  

Previous visits to the Racetrack Flea Market left us wanting more food choices.  This time we were surprised to see the addition of many food trucks selling yummy lunch and snack items.  Also there is no reason to get anxious about the restroom situation because there are adequate and decent toilets however, at times there is a waiting line.

Years ago when we started frequenting the Japan flea markets and fairs we used to collect small hand-sized kokeshi dolls because they were hand painted, sweet looking, and easy to pack in our suitcases.  Recently, there seem to be fewer small kokeshi dolls being sold for 100 to 300 yen (under $2). On this trip we purchased some larger kokeshi dolls (about 12") for around $3.  Even though they are very heavy, we lugged home several of the artist signed kokeshi dolls. Amazing!

As usual, I couldn't resist more ceramic pieces.  I am partial to bowls because of their usefulness and pleasing shapes.  The glaze colors and textures make the Japanese ceramics really special and outstanding artistically.  Can you tell that I'm looking forward to my next trip to Japan not for the food or scenery but for the treasures waiting for me at the fairs and flea markets?  LOL!