It's not just the thrill of a bargain hunt or the search for something unique. Surely, the increasing popularity of antiques is also because every item tells a story. Who, for example, wore that exquisite cameo necklace, dripping with finest gold? Why did an unknown doll-maker never finish painting her creation's delicate face?
At this weekend's Antique Jamboree at Tokyo Big Sight, 500 stalls are offering whole volumes of stories from the past. And a colorful past it is too. Blue-and-white china, gay kimono, gleaming tansu (Japanese cabinets) and lacquerware vie with European objects such as English tea sets, Galle glassware, French dolls and dainty handmade lace to entice the eye in a dozen different directions at once.
But how much is affordable? Due to the recession, you might find some good deals, especially at the top end of the market. Yachiyo Hasegawa, for example, has brought some exquisite Wajima lacquer items from Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture. A mid-18th-century kimono box, of the kind ordered for a bride's trousseau and decorated with peonies, peaches and pines, is priced at 2.8 million yen; a later cabinet for storing a collection of inro (lacquered medicine cases), decorated with 16th-century-style Portuguese traders, will set you back a cool 4.5 million yen.