On Girls Day Festival in Japan, which falls on March 3, each family places emperor and empress dolls on the top tier on a stand with court ministers on the second tier. The exquisite "ningyo" (doll) of wood and silk with paint of crushed oyster shells (shown here) was fashioned after a minister of the time; today it is priced at $225.All this information comes from Jake Costello, a man who lived in Kyoto for the past 21 years and collected such antiques. He and his wife, Yuko, are opening their shop in Nevada City on Saturday, Aug. 18, through …































