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Saw these Edo-era fans in Jinbocho... Are they legit?
Loved this area! Browsing around the stores, I stumbled upon these fans. They were protected and inside glass containe… Saw Edo-era fans in the Jinbocho Book Store area, curious about their legitimacy
Loved this area! Browsing around the stores, I stumbled upon these fans. They were protected and inside glass containers. The shop owner said they were Edo-era & original. The price was only about ¥12,000. I'm curious if anyone knows if these are legitimate? They were beautifully decorated and certainly looked older, but for such an affordable price it's hard to believe they're from such a long time ago! I would expect many times higher of a price for original artefacts.
¥12,000 for an Edo-era fan is suspiciously low. Even a well-made reproduction from a reputable shop in Asakusa runs closer to ¥8,000-10,000, and an actual antique would be several times that. Jinbocho is great for used books and old maps, but the random antique stalls in the back of those bookshops are hit or miss. If the shop owner couldn't tell you which Edo period decade or school of painting it was from, I'd assume it's a high-quality Showa-era reproduction at best.
The Jinbocho bookshops are a great place to find old things, but the antique stalls there are usually selling odds and ends from private collections, not curated museum pieces. A real Edo-era fan in good condition with that kind of decoration would likely be ¥50,000 or more at a proper antique dealer in Ningyocho or Yanaka. If the glass case had any kind of documentation or a tag from a known auction house, that would be a different story. Without that, it's almost certainly a Taisho or early Showa reproduction that's been well kept.
honestly i'd trust your gut on this one. ¥12k for something supposedly that old is basically a steal in Tokyo, even for a random find. probably a nice reproduction made to look aged, which is still cool for decor but not a real artifact.
Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.
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