Life In 19x19

Japan has so many interesting items made with traditional craftsmanship, I was wondering if anyone has collected anything else other than go equipment and go memorabilia.

In the past I have collected some pens such as Namiki maki-e pens (been a while since I last bought any more limited edition pens).
Currently dipping my toes into the world of Japanese kitchen knives and Japanese natural whetstones

tchan001 wrote:Japan has so many interesting items made with traditional craftsmanship, I was wondering if anyone has collected anything else other than go equipment and go memorabilia.

In the past I have collected some pens such as Namiki maki-e pens (been a while since I last bought any more limited edition pens).
Currently dipping my toes into the world of Japanese kitchen knives and Japanese natural whetstones

Oh, let me know how you find Japanese natural whetstones, I've been thinking about saving to get one (the ones I've seen are almost as expensive as an iPad!) I have a Nebraskan natural whetstone I use to get the final cutting edge after fine sandpaper and leather with jeweller's red (and I've been thinking about getting a synthetic 8k grit stone, but supposedly the Nebraskan, although ungraded is between 5k and 10k). When skiving or cutting across leather you need the sharpest, straightest possible edge. You may think you can get to understand the "a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife" motto with kitchen things (pork with its skin on it, maybe?) you realise how different it is to cut something *really* thick and made to be strong (like sole leather.)

I currently only have synthetics so far but I have recently ordered some Japanese naturals (aka Jnats) (aka Tennen Toishi 天然砥石). Still waiting for their arrival. Currently I have my eyes on a real collector's piece The thing about Japanese natural whetstones is that it seems many of the most famous mines have been closed for decades and they are only mainly selling the leftover inventory of dealers. So it's becoming harder and harder to get really nice ones. My first nice Japanese naturals will be coming from a guy in Denmark. He has some really nice pieces on his website and seems to be well respected in the kitchen knife community. Prices of nice Jnats can be quite expensive as they are considered the finest whetstones in the world.

I collect tea cups (chawan) and saucers (chataku).

I don't. But there was an interesting article in the BGA journal many years ago about the collection of netsuke that, I think, Geoffrey Gray (aussiemate on KGS) had put together. You may find it interesting to read. All the old journals are online at the BGA site.

As one of the much muuchh younger generation on here, I collect mainly anime and manga related "stuff" ,and food, lots of foodstuff....

For me it's been mostly the traditional tea pots (kyūsu) and all sorts of japanese green tea. I was into gyokuro for a while (a green tea which is shaded for a few weeks prior to harvest, giving it a very deep green colour and intense taste), but recently I've developped a bit of a craving for tamaryokucha.