I wanted to ask about flea markets

O.k. I�Lve heard that flea markets often have secon hand kimonons and other traditional stuff so I wanted to know if anyone can tell me where and when good fleamarkets are in Kyoto and Tokyo.
The other question is where are stores that sell traditional things. Like veryday kimono, fans, getas and so on... in Kyoto and Tokyo of course... Thanks in advance.

I think the best flea & antique market in Tokyo is the Togo Shrine market at Harajuku. It's on the 1st, 4th & 5th Sundays of the month, from early until about 1pm, when some of the stall holders start leaving.

You exit JR Harajuku Station from the north exit. Head straight across the road into Takashita Street, and go along until it takes a slight bend where a lane meets it. Go left and up the stairs.

The main area for good second-hand kimono is at the far end just near where it meets a main road, so don't buy anything until you've looked at the whole market.

I agree the Togo shrine is great. However the market is only open on the 1st Sunday of the month in the winter. Sorry but I don't know when it will resume being the 1st and 4th Sundays

There is a market every Sunday at Hanazono shrine in Shinjuku (near Shinjuku ward office), and other ones scheduled reguarly around Tokyo. The ones at shrines tend to be more traditional/antiquey and often have old kimonos. Ones at other places, eg Tokyo International Forum, generally have more collector's items, modern clothes. If you use the search function on this site and type in "flea market" you will see the question has come up before.

Another good source of information is this website:
http://www.paperlantern.net/fleamarket/

The link is to a page which describes the main regular fleamarkets, and you then follow the link on that page to the events page, which will tell you which markets are on which days in the current month.

I've got a question about fleamarkets too.
Where I live it is a must to haggle a lot. Is that also accepted in Japan (only for fleamarkets of course), or do you just accept the first price the seller names ?

for flea markets. they are held on, I think, the 23rd and 25th of each month.the second one is at Kitano tenmangu, very big. you can get anything. Bargaining is definitely encouraged. even if you cant speak the language, or not very well, you can bargain. Body language helps, point out any tiny defects you might see, learn the word for expensive. I managed to talk one woman down by 1/4 on an antique poster. one seller, seeing that I liked a piece of art but was going to walk away after seeing the price, cut it down a lot. it's great fun

Previous poster said one market in Kyoto is on 23rd. I think he is referring to the very good Toji temple market (close to Kyoto Station) and that market is on the 21st of each month (not 23rd). Kitano shrine market is on 25th of each month, as the poster said.

how long would it take to walk from Harajuku Station to Togo Shrine
plz.

thnks guys

It only takes about 5 minutes to walk there depending on the time of day and how crowded it is,

Does anyone know how to get to the Yoyogi Park flea market? Yoyogi park is quite large and I was wondering how to get there from JR Harajuku station.

Anyway will it be open on 11 November 2007, or is it open just once a month?


Location: 2 Jinnan Yoyogi-Kamizonocho Shibuya-ku Tokyo
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Number of shops: 800
Access: 5 minute walk from Harajuku station (JR Yamanote line or 6-7 minute walk from Meiji jingu-mae station(Chiyoda line), 10 minute walk from Shibuya station. Next to NHK hall.

I think it depends whether you are after a flea market or an antique market.

For antique markets, the Togo Shrine one is not the best one anymore. It is only half the size.
The best in my opinion is the Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine market, located about 3min from Monzen-Nakacho station on the Tozai subway line. 2nd Sunday of the month.

The Tokyo international Forum also has a good antique market ont he 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month. Located two minutes north west of JR Yurakucho Station.

for kimonos, should i be at a flea market or antique market?

i wanna ask if there will be a fleamarket in NHK Hall on November 3,2007?

I will be in Kyoto from Nov 7-Nov 12. I will therefore miss that great flea market at the Toji shrine at the end of the month. However, is there any other special shopping deals or markets being held in Kyoto during my time there? I love haggling for a good price too! thanks!

I am planning to go to the flea mart at Yoyogi Park this sunday. Can I know where it is? Today I visited the Meiji Shrine area next to Harajuku but didn't see any area suitable for a flea mart.