Shop Talk…Akariya Kanarusha

I am often asked for suggestions on buying antiques in Tokyo, so this is the first in a series called “Shop Talk”. One of my favorite antique shops, Kanarusha in Fuchu (near the American School) is the perfect mix of a beautifully arranged store with a dusty but treasure filled backroom and attic, providing the best of both worlds. There are items for the immediate gratification folks to take home on the spot and lots to dig through for those who love to make their own discoveries. To clear up a bit of confusion on the name, Akariya is the name of the parent company and also of their high-end shop in the Yoyogi area, while this store is actually called Kanarusha. Rarely do I stop by the more polished shop in Yoyogi, preferring instead the more casual warehouse-style store. Drop in and let Ohashi-san and his staff help you chose just the right piece for your home.

Inside is a treasure trove of objects…

Tansu of every style and region…

An unusual golden mizuya (kitchen) tansu…

In the back rooms, there are shelves filled with everything imaginable, including these ikebana (flower arranging) baskets…

These shelves have iron lanterns, inlaid hibachi (small charcoal heaters) and vintage milk glass fixtures…

Speaking of hibachi, they have this gorgeous imperial lacquer one…

They also have a number of beautiful byobu (screens) including this unusual two-panel made of fabric using a wax resist dye technique and adorned with embroidered details. I think William Morris would have loved this piece.

Here’s a close-up of the detail on the spider web and thistles…

Cranes are lucky and represent long life in Japanese art. This 1930s copper vase inlaid with silver cranes is signed by the artist. Frankly, Art Deco pieces can be rarer than 19th century ones.

Ohashi-san’s pick? This extraordinary choba tansu (merchants chest) from Yonazawa Prefecture made of solid keyaki wood. The gorgeous burl wood has its original finish in dreamy condition. Inside is a shelf and small compartments.

My pick? It has to go to this amazing Meiji period mizuya tansu from the Biwa Lake region near Kyoto. It is super long – a full 105 inches – and the staff have only ever seen one other like it in 30 years of antique dealing. I can just imagine it lining a long wall of a kitchen instead of cabinets. Talk about a room-making piece of furniture.

In addition to the items mentioned above, Akariya specializes in antique doors and ranma transom panels, which can be customzied and used in new construction (building a house anyone?)

A few more great things about Kanarusha…They have their own workshop for repairs and customizations and their restoration is always sympathetic and natural. They are also happy to work with international customers over email with photos and they will ship around the world.

The big news is that Kanarusha is having its big annual Autumn Sale next weekend from Saturday, October 30 – Wednesday, November 3. Everything is 20-35% off the already reasonable prices. The shop is open 10a.m. – 7p.m. (an hour later than usual).

The really big news is that Tokyo Jinja readers can start shopping at sale prices now!! Just stop in between now and Wednesday, October 27 (Kanarusha is closed for set up on Thursday and Friday) and mention the blog and you can have first pick before the big sale starts. You may have to wade through as things are not fully set up for the sale, but isn’t that the best kind of antique shopping anyway?

Interested in tansu? You might want to read my post from last month “What’s Cooking? Tansu in the Kitchen”.

Driving directions from Tokyo: Take Shuto #4 (Chuo Expressway) to the Chofu exit and head towards Fuchu after the toll as if going to ASIJ. Pass the turn at Ajinimoto Stadium and keep going straight on Route 20 for 2 km. There will be a rise in the road (bridge over the train tracks) and at the next light called Shiraitodai Police Box intersection (Family Mart is on the right hand corner) take a right. Kanarusha is immediately on your left. Parking is available.

Image credits: All courtesy of Kanarusha and taken either by me or Ohashi-san.

Oct 23, 2010 By tokyojinja in Shop Talk Tags: baskets, byobu, doors, furniture, ikebana, japanese antiques, lacquer, lighting, porcelain, ranma, screens, tansu

A Riot of Color…Temo Callahan and Studio Printworks

The apartment in today’s post could not be more different from the John Saladino designed home posted last week. Instead of perfectly curated classicism, we have a wild riot of color and pattern. Temo Callahan’s New York apartment was featured in the November 2008 Domino and is one of those spaces that people either love to hate or absolutely adore. Callahan himself was a director of the legendary Clarence House fabric company in the 1980s and 90s. He left and launched Studio Printworks, a small art based wallpaper company. They commission artists and designers and make unique hand-printed papers. Check out their collaboration with artist Kiki Smith – it is amazing!

Callahan’s living room is covered in a wallpaper of one of their designs – Edo Pines – in a dramatic red colorway. Pines symbolize long life and happiness in Japan, so perhaps not a bad thing to have papering all your walls.

This living room has a little bit of everything! On the left there are typical Japanese lacquer tray tables stacked high, but they are done in a glossy modern white finish. In contrast, a polychrome Imari platter set in a tray table sits in the center of the room towards the back – something the design world seems to think of as kind of “grandma-ish”. The white iron garden chair has cushions upholstered in a Jed Johnson fabric called (coincidentally?) Kamakura in the Indigo colorway.

Callahan is quoted as saying “No one looks bad in a red room”. But I think I might consider some of the other Edo Pines colorways.

Robin’s Egg

Truffle

Dove

The bedroom, by contrast, is painted a dark soothing blue.

The headboard has been upholstered in the same fabric as the throw pillows on the living room couch to give the apartment a sense of continuity. The throw pillows on the bed look remarkably similar to a Japanese rayon shibori (tie-dye) fabric, but they are actually a very expensive linen/cotton from Jed Johnson called Medallion. (The Imperial colorway looks a bit darker in the swatch below).

Almost all the Asian blue and white porcelain seen in shelter magazines is Chinese, but this lamp is a converted Imari porcelain vase.

What I find so fascinating about it this apartment is the use of specifically Japanese patterns and objects (as opposed to Chinese for instance) as if he wanted to keep to a theme started by the wallpaper. With the preponderance of Chinese antiques and Chinoiserie readily available in the decorating world, it continues to be unusual to see Japanese items used. I really wonder if he did it on purpose.

And as a follow up to Tuesday’s post, Studio Printworks has a fantastic wallpaper called “Kiku Kamon” in eight different colorways. Here it is below in my favorite “raisin”.

I wonder what the Emperor would think of having his kamon on a wallpaper…

Image Credits:1,2,7 & 9 photographed by Paul Costello for Domino, 4-6 & 10 Studio Printworks, 3, 8 Jed Johnson Home

Sep 30, 2010 By tokyojinja in Interior Design Tags: porcelain, Temo Callahan, textiles, wallpaper

More on Mon…The Polka Dots of Japan

In a post on John Saladino last week I talked about mon or kamon, the heraldic crests of Japan. As they are so prevalent in Japanese design, I thought it would be interesting to showcase some of the variety found. In general, they are stylized symmetrical patterns or small pictures placed inside a roundel. They have a long history in Japan, used first by the aristocratic classes and later by the public at large. You can read more about them here.

The 16 petal chrysanthemum is the kamon of the Emperor of Japan and its use by others was prohibited by law. Chrysanthemums with fewer petals could be used though.

You still see many examples of this Imperial crest. Here it is atop a torii gate.

One of the original uses of kamon related to war. They were placed on standards to identify troops in a battle. Here is a modern-day version – a Japanese battleship adorned with an imperial kamon.

You can find kamon everywhere in Japanese antiques and decorative arts.

The antique indigo cloth above has a traditional wisteria design with a kanji in the center. It is set against a background of sashiko embroidered traditional patterns.

You can see a few historic kamon on this resist-dyed textile including the kamon of Tokugawa, the shogun who unified Japan. It has three wild ginger leaves set in the circle.

Another common kamon is the butterfly – it is a good non-symmetrical figural example.

In this brightly colored vintage kimono you can see many of the same kamon as on the indigo cloth above, including the Tokugawa (wild ginger leaves) kamon and the pine.

This small silver toothpick holder has two kamon – an ume (plum) blossom and a tachibana (wild orange).

While some items are decorated with actual kamon, others are often covered with simple patterns and scenes within the roundels, which are simply called mon. Notice here how the mon are actually etched realistic looking flowers in the rounds and not stylized representations like the kamon above. The design and form make me think that perhaps this Meiji period silver jewelry box was made for export. I was very tempted to buy it (inside it has three gorgeous dark lacquer drawers) but it was out of the price range for a casual impulse buy.

Particularly in porcelain, you see many simplified and stylized (and plain old “made-up”) patterns.

Here again we see fanciful designs in the circles, scattered all over this Imari pot. This kind of patterning is a favorite of mine – I think you can see why I called it “the polka dots of Japan”. I have a memory of two massive urns with a similar mon pattern placed near the entry to the Ralph Lauren store in the Rhinelander Mansion. I wonder if they are still there?

Mon and kamon are seen not only in decorative arts, but in product branding and logos. Two of my favorites below:

The retired logo of Japan Airlines is a crane kamon. What a graceful and beautiful logo and a shame that they changed it to this.

And now for the cutest part of the post! Shu Uemura launched their wonderful cleansing oil in an adorable modern Harajuku version of kamon. Sadly, they are no longer available but I bet that the bottles and containers are probably wildly collectible on eBay. Take a moment and compare these girls to the mon pattern on the silver jewelry box….

Image Credits:1-3 tamamushi; 4,6,9-13 me; 5,7 & 8 Japanese Free Clip Art; 14. Japan Probe; 15. Shu Uemura

Sep 28, 2010 By tokyojinja in Design Motif, Metals, Porcelain and Pottery, Textiles Tags: porcelain, silver, textiles