Today I only saw one piece. It is an early Showa koro by a guy named Kusubeya Ichi. The box is signed on the outside of the lid by him, the inside by the maker of the lid of the piece and the side of the box by Kusubeya’s daughter certifying it is by him. Nice piece but I am not all that excited by it.
I didn’t see many antiques but did learn a lot about a local dealer whose shop I happened into last weekend. I was playing tourist in Nara and went into an antiques shop very close to the Daibutsuden. I recognized a dealer I see every month at the Wakakusakai auction, the same dealer I wrote about a long time ago taking sweet bean filled rolls just before jumping into his Kompressor Mercedes Benz. So, that dealer seems to have deep and current ties with the local mafioso.
Interesting.
I have met one or two mafia types here, one with at least half of his knuckles missing. I see now a lot of similarities between the mannerisms of that guy and the local antiques dealer.
I ate at a local, very small place and took some pictures of the meal. 500 yen. Cheap and great. Fish or hamburger, I had the fish. If you are in Naramachi it is very close to Nara City library.
The last set of pictures is of an experiment to melt brass for a project my wife wants to do. Not successful but interesting to try.
Nanban ceramics 