Kappabashi Kitchenware Street かっぱ橋道具街
Either the raincoats spread out on the bridge, or the kappa of the river: the name has two stories.
The first shops selling kitchen tools and second-hand goods appeared here in 1912. On the name, the street's association gives two versions and does not choose between them: either it comes from 雨合羽, the oiled-paper raincoats that low-ranking samurai sewed to make ends meet and hung out to dry on the bridge on sunny days; or from Kappaya Kihachi, who about a hundred and eighty years ago paid out of his own pocket to drain the area, and whom, according to legend, the kappa of the Sumida River (the water spirits) came to help at night.
Tokyo
Iriya, Asakusa, Ueno, Asakusa
