Lately, I've been doing a lot of treasure hunting. In the literal sense. I've been going to ruins,markets, shops, and abandoned buildings seeking treasure. Its starting to become my new past-time. Last weekend I took a quick trip to Kyoto to take a look at the Toji antique market, where I found a lovely brooch dated 1910-1920 from the UK. I was accompanied by a friend of mine who also found some lovely vintage trays at his friend's shop in downtown Kyoto.
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Tile remains from Meiji Period and vintage tray from
my treasure hunting adventures. |
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| Suntory Wiskey bottle and little pot from the old house. |
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| 1950s washbasin found in the old ryokan |
This week I stumbled upon a couple of old abandoned buildings in some nearby woods. With the intention of visiting a nearby shrine, my curiosity got the best of me and I ended up finding these old buildings completely by chance. The first place was an old ryokan (a Japanese-style hotel). Most of what had been left behind was rubbish, however my friend stumbled upon some lovely washbasins from the 1950s that were in pretty good shape!
We returned a few days later to explore another abandoned place, this time a house, which I had also found by chance while I was out taking pictures. What did we find? An old blackboard, a lovely steel tray which unfortunately could not be cleaned and salvaged, some large tin mixing bowls, an old Suntory Whiskey bottle, a small clay jar, a small metal tile from Taiwan, and some handmade brooches from India. Perhaps nothing of any real value. It was all left behind when the places were abandoned after all, but certainly interesting,
nonetheless. Really, the search itself is what I enjoy most, regardless
of what one ends up discovering.
I'm so sad to have to say goodbye to some of my best students today. Instead of a regular lesson, we decided to have an English conversation party with cake, cookies and pop. I will really miss these girls! (even though they kept teasing my bad Japanese today hehe)
