Japanese flea market culture reflects shifting social attitudes

TOKYO -- Consumer habits in Japan have seen an extraordinary transformation in the last couple of decades. Secondhand goods, for example, once associated with a faintly shameful, unhygienic form of impecuniosity, are now sought-after items. This consumer shift is evident in the emergence of thrift shops, online used goods platforms like Mercari, and that most American of suburban institutions, the garage sale.