The Memory Salesman: Acquiring, Valuing & Selling Vintage Japanese Furniture with Osaka Gaku / Solashima

Outland Japan

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In Episode 38 of the podcast we travel just outside of Nagano City to speak with Osaka Gaku, the owner of Solashima. Solashima is a vintage and antique store selling furniture and other items. As Gaku explains during the interview, the furniture and other pieces he acquires and sells range in age, design and condition. In collecting items for the store, Gaku seeks out pieces that are beautiful, unique and bear witness to the struggle of craftsperson that created it. The process of acquiring and valuing that stock takes him in to peoples’ homes and unoccupied houses, and in doing so, into the stories of life and the memory many of these items carry with them.

The availability of such items, often beautiful yet unwanted timber furniture, ceramics, glassware and more, reflects the reality of regional Japan which is suffering from an ageing and decreasing population. There is often no one to pass these items onto with many unoccupied or soon to be abandoned or demolished homes, full of unwanted furnishings and items that would in almost any other circumstances be coveted and highly priced. I hope my chat with Gaku sparks your interest in the vintage furniture and craft of Japan’s recent past – which is at risk of being tossed out before it’s properly appreciated – and visiting the wonderful, Solashima. Should you need to furnish a home or perhaps clear a home of furniture and items, Gaku is the ideal person to speak with.

Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.

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1. Episode Introduction (00:00:00)

2. (A Little Bit of) Gaku's Story (00:03:24)

3. Concept Behind Solashima (00:08:21)

4. Process of Acquiring & Valuing Items (00:12:37)

5. Why These Things Are Worth Convserving (00:20:07)

6. Selling Items to Customers & Other Stores (00:23:19)

7. Overseas Market & Shipping Abroad (00:27:52)

8. Why Gaku Chooses To Do What He Does (00:30:04)

9. Solashima Social Media & How To Get In Touch (00:38:24)

10. Episode Close (00:40:35)