Tokyo Flea Market Guide: Dates, Hours and What to Buy
TripToJapan.com Editorial Team
Oct 18, 2023
TripToJapan.com Editorial Team
The dealers at Oedo Antique Market start unpacking in the dark. By the time the first commuters cross the plaza at Tokyo International Forum, there are lacquer bowls laid out on blankets and boxes of Meiji-era postcards. One dealer is patiently unwrapping a tea caddy he has already sold twice before. By four in the afternoon it has all gone back into the vans.
Tokyo's flea markets run on that rhythm, and the best of them are free, held outdoors and gone by mid-afternoon. Oedo runs twice a month at Tokyo International Forum, Tomioka Hachimangu holds an antique market most Sundays, and the biggest by stall count is at Oi Racecourse in Shinagawa on weekends.
You will see two words. Nomi no ichi is the general term for a flea market, and kottou-ichi means an antique market, where dealers sell older goods rather than secondhand household clutter. Temples and shrines run many of them on fixed monthly dates, a tradition tied to the memorial days of the deity or founder.
The distinction matters when you plan. A kottou-ichi at a Kyoto temple is full of ceramics, textiles and Buddhist items. A recycle-style flea market at a park or racecourse is closer to a car boot sale, with clothes and household goods alongside the occasional find.
We'll build a costed, pre-planned Japan itinerary you can customise to your taste.
Held at Tokyo International Forum in Yurakucho, Oedo bills itself as Japan's largest outdoor antique market, with more than 250 dealers spread across the plaza. Entry is free and hours run 9:00 to 16:00, though the official schedule notes the close can be brought forward for weather or other events at the venue.
It runs twice a month, but not on a fixed pattern. Recent dates have fallen on Saturdays, Sundays and Monday holidays, so check the calendar rather than assuming the first and third Sunday. It does not run in August because of the heat, and it is cancelled outright in rain.
The biggest flea market in Tokyo by stall count takes over the first parking lot at Oi Racecourse in Shinagawa, with roughly 700 vendors on a busy weekend. It runs most Saturdays and Sundays plus some holidays, 9:00 to 14:30, and admission is free.
This is a recycle market rather than a dealers' antique fair. Expect secondhand clothing, kitchenware and tools at prices well below the Yurakucho stalls. Oi-Keibajo-mae Station on the Tokyo Monorail is three minutes away. Organizers cancel for rain and post the call on the morning of the market.
A proper dealers' market in the grounds of a Koto ward shrine. It runs on the first, second, fourth and fifth Sundays of the month, skipping the first Sunday in January. Hours are 7:00 to 14:00, and in late summer stalls start packing up by three.
Come early. The organizers say so themselves, and by noon the best ceramics have usually gone. Monzen-nakacho Station on the Tozai and Oedo lines is a five-minute walk, and the market is cancelled in rain. The shrine hosts other markets on different dates, so confirm which one you are turning up for.
Boro-ichi is the oldest market in this guide and the strangest. It has run since 1578, when Hojo Ujimasa established a free market here. It now takes place on four days a year: December 15 and 16, then January 15 and 16, whatever days of the week those fall on.
Hours are 9:00 to 20:00, according to GO TOKYO, and hundreds of stalls fill the streets around Boro-ichi-dori in Setagaya. It is a designated Tokyo intangible folk cultural property. Unlike the shrine markets, it goes ahead in ordinary rain and only stops for severe weather. Eat the daikan mochi while you walk.
The indoor option, and the one to aim for if the forecast is bad. Held four times a year at Tokyo Ryutsu Center in Ota ward, it brings together more than 100 dealers under one roof, with hours of 10:00 to 17:00 and free entry.
Since 2026 it runs as a two-day Saturday and Sunday event rather than three days. On the final day admission closes at 15:00 and the hall shuts at 16:00. Upcoming dates include December 5 and 6, 2026, then March 13 and 14, 2027.
A small Sunday market in Shinjuku, tucked into the shrine grounds a few minutes from the department stores. It runs most Sundays from about 6:30 until sunset, with roughly ten stalls, and it pauses for shrine festivals in May and August.
Treat it as a stop rather than a destination. If you're already shopping in Shinjuku, it's worth 20 minutes. Our Tokyo shopping guide covers the neighborhoods around it.
A regular series run by an environmental campaign, mostly at Nakano Central Park, usually 10:00 to 16:00. Stock is everyday secondhand goods rather than antiques, and the mood is closer to a neighborhood clear-out. Dates are posted a few weeks ahead on the organizer's site.
Two Tokyo markets that older listings still mention are not currently running. The Nogi Shrine market was suspended in January 2026 with no restart date, and the Yasukuni Shrine market has been on hold since 2020.
Held on the 21st of every month in the grounds of Toji temple, with over 1,000 stalls and around 200,000 visitors a month. Hours run roughly 7:00 to 15:30, though dealers set up well before dawn.
Unlike the Tokyo markets, Kobo-ichi goes ahead in rain, and some open-air sellers simply stay home. The January and December editions, Hatsu-Kobo and Shimai-Kobo, are the largest of the year. It is the best single market in Japan for old textiles and ceramics.
The 25th of every month at Kitano Tenmangu, from around 6:30 or 7:00 until sunset. It is the natural counterpart to Kobo-ichi, and if your dates allow both, do both: the stock overlaps but the dealers differ.
January 25 and December 25 are the big editions. The shrine's 350 stone lanterns and 250 hanging lanterns are lit after dark, which is worth staying for even once the stalls close. If you're building a temple itinerary around the dates, our guide to Kyoto's temples and shrines has the rest.
Shitennoji holds its main market on the 21st, the memorial day for Kobo Daishi. Food stalls, daily goods and antique dealers spread across the temple grounds, and the central hall opens free of charge. The 22nd is also a temple fair day, though with fewer antique dealers.
Held on the 18th and 28th of each month from 6:00 to 16:00. Entry is free and it goes ahead in rain. Osu is a covered shopping arcade district, so the market pairs well with a wet-weather afternoon.
Markets reward early arrival more than any other kind of shopping in Japan. Dealers unpack at dawn, the best pieces sell in the first two hours, and most Tokyo markets have closed by 14:00 or 14:30.
Rain: Oedo, Tomioka Hachimangu, Hanazono and Oi Racecourse cancel. Toji, Kitano Tenmangu and Osu Kannon go ahead. Heiwajima is indoors.
Cash: bring it. Most stalls take nothing else, and there is no haggling culture as aggressive as in Europe, though a polite ask on a multi-item purchase is normal.
Season: spring and fall are the most comfortable. Oedo closes in August, and midsummer markets are brutal by 11:00.
Prices: nobody publishes them, and they vary stall by stall. Used kimono, small ceramics and prints are where most visitors start.
Imari and Arita porcelain, in blue and white or with red and gold overglaze, turn up at every antique market. So do lacquer bowls and iron kettles, alongside boxes of vintage postcards and matchbox labels that cost a few hundred yen each.
Textiles are the sleeper category. Used kimono, obi and boro sell for a fraction of shop prices. Boro is the patched indigo cloth once worn by farmers, and good pieces have become collectible. Check for moth holes and underarm staining before you commit. Our guide to Japanese souvenir shopping covers what travels well and what customs will question.
One warning about authenticity. Genuine Edo-period pieces exist at these markets, but so do modern reproductions, and dealers are not required to label the difference. If a price looks impossible for a 200-year-old object, it usually is. Buy because you like the object.
Haggling exists but it is gentle. Asking "sukoshi makete kuremasu ka" on a multi-item purchase is normal, and pushing hard on a single ¥500 plate is not. Many dealers will round down without being asked if you buy three things.
Bring your own bag and some newspaper or a scarf for padding, since wrapping is minimal at the cheaper stalls. Ask before photographing a dealer's stock, especially at the Kyoto temple markets, where some sellers object.
Sizing and condition are on you. There are no returns, ceramics often carry old repairs, and kimono are sold as found. Turn a bowl over: a signed box or a lacquer repair usually means the dealer knows exactly what it is worth.
Getting there is simple for all of the Tokyo markets. Yurakucho, Monzen-nakacho, Oi-Keibajo-mae and Ryutsu Center are all on the main rail or monorail network, and none of them need a taxi.
The fixed dates make planning easy. If you want Kobo-ichi and Tenjin-san, you need the 21st and the 25th in Kyoto. If you want Boro-ichi, you need mid-December or mid-January in Tokyo, which pairs neatly with the winter illuminations.
For a slower Tokyo trip with room for a Sunday market, this seven-day slow Tokyo plan builds in the neighborhoods where the markets are.
Add a morning at Ameyoko shopping street if you want the same hunting instinct with a roof over your head.
