Thursday was the 28th of the month which means that it is time for the Kawagoe shrine sale. We have had a lot of rainy 28ths lately, so it was lovely to wake to a warm sunshiny day.  I went with every intention of not buying anything (ha!), which of course proved to be an impossible task. The market felt a bit quieter than usual, but there were plenty of Tokyo folks there.

The theme of the day was clearly baskets…

I was dying for these amazing huge winnower baskets, imaging them hung on a wall in the den of a country house. I know I’ve seen a recent photo of a similar basket display, but can’t remember where. When I do, I’ll add it in here.

Addendum: I didn’t find the photo I was thinking of, but I did find this one with a symmetrical display of Vietnamese fishing hats…

and this one from The Bootstrap Project (more on that in a later post) of handmade Zambian baskets displayed asymetrically.

These baskets would be perfect in a bathroom with one closed holding extra toilet paper and the other open with extra towels.

I didn’t buy any baskets, having just found this one last week. It is just perfect for holding magazines.

But there were some things I couldn’t resist…

I have a weakness for Japanese bellflowers, so this katagami stencil came home with me.

A couple of Tokyo friends got lucky and bought big Japanese fishing floats from this dealer. I got a bunch of small rolling pin or roller floats, all slightly different in shape and size, but roughly around five inches long. I figure I can’t get my big floats back to the US anytime soon, but a handful of these in a basket in the bathroom might do!

Speaking of the bathroom, I thought this kashigata looked like a sand dollar and a starfish and would be perfect to display alongside the bowls of the real things collected by the girls.

Gorgeous shape and color, but it was the glass screw top that sold me!

Is it a stool or a table? Either! This was my favorite find of the day.

Remember this post from a couple of days ago? Patina over perfection…antiques with flaws can be very affordable. I didn’t need this big Seto pot, but it was a lovely one, fishbowl style with a finished and glazed interior. At first glance a 30,000yen (about $300) piece…

…at second glance, this repair brought the price down to 10% of that.  For 3000yen ($30) it came home with me.

Friends scored big time too. The sake jug on the left came home with M, as her birthday present. I was so happy to find it after another friend got the one on the right last October.

M got this amazing roof tile cap from Nagano too.

And these 3 smaller inban hibachi (transfer printed charcoal brazier), probably from tobacco sets.

Another friend bought these gorgeous late-Edo period covered bowls. I want to research the unusual painted pattern as I know I have seen it in a museum collection somewhere.  Just so modern!

We finished with our usual post-antiquing repast. Indian food! Their keema curry is super-delish!