Turning Japanese

for years i've been flagrantly getting high-high as a kite-in a secluded store on the east side. i open a nondescript door on lexington at 61st street, beneath a banner that reads "things japanese," and make my way up a narrow stairway to the second floor. suddenly, thousands of museum-quality japanese antiques make my mood soar. the world-class institution (as i think of things japanese) is 37 years old.

a tip: i've never before seen such a huge, reasonably priced (read: inexpensive) treasure trove of art objects from the 18th century to the 1950s. thousands of gloriously designed japanese gems make me high as i gaze around-be sure and check out the splendid hand-painted minimalist chargers that can sometimes cost less than $100, lovingly crafted by people whose esthetic is arguably the best on earth.

things japanese was recommended to me by a collector who says that it houses a far less expensive and better collection than any she's seen in japan. i collect kokeshi dolls (unbelievably priced from $25 to $75), traditionally made by farmers for their children during winter months when they can't till the fields. (at takashima, the upscale international store on fifth avenue, similar-though mostly not antique-art and folk art costs at least three times as much.) on my last visit to things japanese, a pale, handcrafted, totally plain 100-year-old meji period ceramic bowl suddenly began singing a siren song to me. due to the current sale, it cost a mere $50, and on my bookshelf its minimalist beauty is so pure and demanding it blasts away everything around it.

i lust after gorgeous 100-year-old carved bronze hand mirrors, which miraculously start at less than $100. gifts to brides, many mirrors feature a crane, the symbol of longevity and endurance, in beautifully abstracted design. the japanese word for felicity is integrated into one mirror. the proprietors don't polish them, preferring the glorious patina of time.

japanese lacquer is suddenly hot. elsa peretti's simple, life saver-shaped red pendant is japanese lacquer. but at things japanese, real old lacquer pieces from the tree of the same name have a glow from within that makes me feel stoned. they take three months to paint and re-paint.

sally pleet, one of the store's articulate owners, will make you tipsy as she educates your eye to see things you've never seen before. she speaks with awe of the japanese genius for abstraction that was the biggest influence on early abstract expressionists and indeed all of modern art. merchants in 19th century paris first sold hundreds of japanese prints to van gogh, monet, matisse, braque and toulouse lautrec for 25 cents each. monet's kitchen at giverny is covered with prints.

maybe if i can find a place on my walls, i'll buy the 180-year-old black-and-white views of mount fuji by hokosai (priced from $55 to $150!). in one print sally shows me, fuji is seen from between a laborer's bare legs; in another, it floats behind lines of rain; in another, through parasols; in another, the viewer is challenged to find mount fuji's upside down reflection in a river; and in one, behind the rear end of a four-footed animal.

find the store at 800 lexington avenue (remember, it's on the second floor) and engage the owners in conversation. you'll be so happy, you may, like myself, become a japanese antiques junkie and live to spread the word.

-- susan braudy is the author and journalist whose last book, family circle: the boudins and the aristocracy of the left, was nominated for a pulitzer by publisher alfred knopf.