Dear Readers,

Today was Mayday and that means that it is time for the Annual Naha Antique Fair. Ron-san had been excited about this show for several months, but I think he was a little disappointed when we arrived. We arrived early but there were very few vendors.

We browsed around and examined the items. Most of the items were old ceramics and lacqureware. There is a huge market for these in Japan, and most of the collectors present were searching for these items. If you do not know this market well, it is best not to participate. Forgeries are quite common and it is very easy to get cheated unless you can tell the difference between materials and the signatures.

We found just one pen, a Pilot celluloid pen with the steel nib. We have quite a few of these now and we need to get organized and start selling these.

One lf the sellers had large crates of postcards and my duty was to search through them all. I did not like this job very much at first, but once I began searching it grew interesting. I found a Pilot Postcard. It was one that Ron-san had never seen before so he looked very happy.

Several of the sellers sold coins, and while I was searching the postcards, Ron-san searched the coins. He was delighted to find a US silver 3 cent piece in excellent condition for only 200 yen (about $2) . He said that was a huge bargain.. I do not know anything about coins, but I imagine they are like pens and some collectors care very much about dates and condition. Some models are worth more than others and you just have to learn the market.

Sincerely,

Meg.