A reader hopes to benefit from today's recession. She has heard that because so many companies have gone bankrupt, it is easy to buy good secondhand office furniture. But where? she asks.

How I wish she had asked the people who told her about those bargains. Not being aware of this opportunity, I checked the ever-useful classified telephone directory under recycling. Among the listed shops are Nakamura in Shinjuku, phone toll free (0120) 70-3575, and Nakatani in Shimbashi, phone (0120) 09-4011. Both have desks, chairs, lockers, shelves and other furnishings from bankrupt companies, usually at about a quarter or a fifth of the original price. If she doesn't see what she wants, she should ask the dealers to help. They have a large network and will do their best to find what their customers want.

Another reader is concerned about recycling. She read about new regulations for used appliances that will require them to be returned to the manufacturer for disposal. She shipped her refrigerator with her household goods when she came to Japan. Will she have to ship it back to the United States when she wants to buy a new one?

She has fallen into the inevitable crack. Japanese companies that import foreign appliances will have the same obligation to collect them for disposal as Japanese manufacturers. Since no dealer is involved in her case, she will have to call her ward office and make arrangements to have it picked up. At least for now, such appliances will be turned over to companies that specialize in disposal. She will have to pay for this service, although at present the cost is not excessive. The situation is sure to get worse. As the economy improves, people will start replacing their aged appliances. Unless regulations are in place to handle the excess, there will be increasing illegal dumping. In far too many scenic spots, if you look along the roadside, you will see many ravines gradually being filled with old stoves, refrigerators, computers and other unwanted goods testifying to the manufacturing prowess of the Japanese industrial establishment. Please do not contribute to this countryside pollution.

Stay here long enough and you will find that some of your firmly held convictions slowly erode until suddenly, surprisingly, you find yourself supporting a system you once condemned. Consider "shaken," the compulsory automobile-inspection system required every two years until a car is 10 years old. After that milestone it must be conducted each year. My reluctant support has been won by the fact that you rarely see broken-down cars along the roadside, nor do you see old wrecks wobbling along the highways, seemingly held together by the rust that is gradually consuming them. Such cars would never pass an inspection. While the system may not be responsible, I suspect the emphasis on maintenance contributes to the fact that people keep their cars clean and have damaged areas promptly repaired. I find myself thinking that it looks better, even though I viewed such misfits with both tolerance and amusement. Finally, this year, when my nine-year-old Toyota Windy was due for its inspection, I discovered with pleasure that I received what seems like a year of grace. Even though I cross into the 10 year cutoff, I was still given two years before the next one is due.

I had considered trying to do the inspection procedures myself, now that this has become permissible. It is not easy. Language proficiency is required and time-consuming procedures must be followed precisely. My dealer, who keeps in touch on a regular basis to see if I am still happy with my car and wouldn't I like to buy a new one, suggested a generous shaken discount and, since I would be traveling when the inspection was due, offered to pick up my car and later deliver it so it would be waiting, properly inspected, on my return.

And then I received a letter from a reader who outlined in detail how he had successfully completed the shaken inspection. (Copies available for a stamped, self-addressed envelope and a 200 yen stamp.) At the end was the most telling statement. It had taken an entire day and he figured he had saved 8,000 yen. Bear all this in mind when your own shaken is due.