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🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (1)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (2)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (3)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (4)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (5)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (6)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (7)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (8)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (1)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (2)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (3)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (4)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (5)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (6)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (7)
🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (8)
Promo available

🎎 Antique Japanese Portable Scale Case – Merchant’s Kimono Tool – Japan Antique Roadshow

$48.00
Free shipping for orders over $100.00 for everyone. Promotion auto-applied on checkout.

Once nestled in the sash of a traveling merchant’s kimono, this worn and unusual artifact served as a case for a portable balance scale—used to weigh silver, coins, or other fine goods on the road. Crafted from bamboo and wrapped in thick, blackened leather now richly cracked with age, it speaks of commerce conducted face-to-face, on foot, and under the open sky. Though the scale itself is long gone, the case remains—quietly evocative, unmistakably real.

📏 Approximate dimensions:
• Weight: 30 g
• Length: 36.6 cm
• Width at widest point: ~6.5 cm
• Materials: Bamboo shaft, leather cover, wooden interior fittings
• Condition: Poor overall; surface cracking, deep flaking, bamboo loss at end, signs of heavy use
• Era: Likely late Edo to Meiji or early Showa

While no longer functional, the piece is rich in atmosphere—an ideal addition to a study, library shelf, or collector’s cabinet, where it may serve not just as a talking point, but as a symbol of a slower, more deliberate form of trade and trust.

Curated in Shizuoka City by Kurt Bell, this piece offers a quiet, tangible connection to Japan’s itinerant merchant tradition and the humble tools that supported a nation in motion.

➡️ https://a.co/d/6SORY8N
Get your copy of Going Alone at this link (the hardcover edition is recommended) 🤠🏜️☀️
🌐 Website: https://goingalone.org
📧 Email: dinnerbytheriver@gmail.com
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Hashtags:
#JapanAntiqueRoadshow #KurtBell #softypapa #JapaneseAntiques #ObiTools #WabiSabi #MeijiEra #GoingAlone #MerchantLife #JapaneseHistory

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Quality Guarantee & Returns

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  • Quality is guaranteed. If there is a print error or visible quality issue, we'll replace or refund it.
  • Because the products are made to order, we do not accept general returns or sizing-related returns.