The "Free Market" outside by the Tamagawa River in Tokyo is held on the third Saturday in April and October. I've been to two October events, and now this past April event. Just like the other two, this "FM" was great. (By the way, this "Free Market" is what we would call a "Flea Market". "L"'s and "R"'s get mixed-up routinely in Japan- I had a sandwich the other day that was factory-packed and printed, and it proclaimed that it was, "Dericious".)
I traveled with Scott Davis from St Paul, who has helped me immensely every time. We took the same flight, and arrived in Tokyo after about 12 hours in the air from Minneapolis, but we had to board a different plane to Nagoya as a condition of our cheap tickets. That was OK, because we got to take the Shinkansen, (bullet train) back into Tokyo. This, along with staying in a capsule hotel, was a goal for me in my Japanese travel experiences. By the way, Scott REALLY wants to have a job being at the healm of the shinkansen...
We arrived in Nagoya at about 7:00 pm local time, and had to take an airport bus to Nagoya proper. The bus ride was about 45 minutes, and quite relaxing. We each had a small room in the hotel which was close to Nagoya transit station. As best as I can remember, Scott woke up at 4:30 am, and I woke up at about 7:30 am, and after a leisurely morning, (I think I'm missing some details here, Scott?) we took the 180 mph train ride in to Tokyo. The Shinkansen is very smooth and comfortable. When the neat and courteous lady came down the isle with her food and beverage cart, Scott and I decided that it was time for a couple of Asahi Dry's. Before we knew it, (about 1.5 hours) we were back in Tokyo. Keep in mind that Scott and I were lugging big and very heavy suitcases filled with parts. This is a helluva challenge on the trains in the stations with all of the people and the stairs! We checked into the Hotel which is conveniently located a few blocks from the FM. After dropping off our luggage, we went to the electronics district where Scott shopped for cameras, and I lamented having left my brand-new camera on the plane in Narita... I didn't get another one, and so I have no pics from this adventure... oh well.
The next morning was Saturday morning, and I had promised Takigawa-san, (taki59) and Nonomura-san, (allvitluxe) that they could get first shot at my stuff if they met me in the lobby of the hotel so that we could go together to the FM site at 6:30 am. I dumped out all of my stuff on my tarp, (we were the 3rd ones there) and as it turns out, they bought almost nothing from me. I was a little disappointed, because I know that they are big-spenders, and I was counting on selling them a lot. Not long after, others arrived, and I had sold plenty of stuf in the first couple hours. I also went out to make some buys, and had a fun time doing that, negotiating in Yen.
That evening, after the event, Scott and I met Ichikawa-san, (hicampy) and several others for beers and "tavern" food. Those guys meet every month for bike-talk. Included in this bunch was a Bridgestone Director, and a dude who has an incredible DeRosa Cambio Corsa bike. These are definitely some of the premier collectors in Japan, and they couldn't be nicer... even though they speak VERY little English.
Sunday morning we took another shinkansen, this time to Kyoto, to visit the bike shop owned by Ikuro Tsuchiya. He has a wonderful, if small, shop, and after tea, offered by him and his wife, we poked-around in his cabinets and drawers for goodies. It took quite a while to get to his shop after a bus ride, so we didn't get back to the hotel until dark. Scott went back out for a camera hunt, and I went out for some food. I happened-by a little noodle house, and I watched the crew of 3 prepare soups for their customers. I watched them through the window on the street for a while, and I was awestruck at their teamwork and skill. They chuckled to themselves as I watched, but I didn't care. I ended-up eating some Gyoza, (dumplings) at a shop in the train station.
Monday, April 18th was basically a travel day for me, (Scott stayed a day longer than me) as I had to take the bullet train from Kyoto into Nagoya, then take the airport bus, etc.
I got back home at about Noon on Monday, and slept from 8pm until 6:00 am. I have not had too many problems with jet lag on any of these trips...
Oh, also, Scott and I visited a collector's "museum" collection on one of the days. He is mostly a Campy collector, and his collection is fantastic. I particularly liked his 1964 Cinelli track tandem! WOW!
John Barron
Minneapolis
http://www.velostuf.com