Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2009

You’ve shared, reused and tweaked to your heart’s content—now you just want to get rid of stuff. Rather than simply toss it away, though, why not see if someone else out there is prepared to take it off your hands—and pay you for it? The Tokyo area plays host to a welter of flea markets, ranging from small-scale affairs to mega events like the aptly-titled Meiji Koen Big Flea Market, which draws somewhere in the region of 800 vendors. The Tokyo Recycle Movement Association website has schedules in English (www.trx.jp/en), but information about vendor registration is available only in Japanese. While you should normally expect to pay around ¥3,000 for a pitch, you’ll also come across the odd free event at the Japanese-language www.rakuichi-rakuza.jp.