Kappabashi Kitchenware Street

photo by Basile Morin · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by Basile Morin · CC BY-SA 4.0

Either the raincoats spread out on the bridge, or the kappa of the river: the name has two stories.

It is the street where you buy what you cook with: knives, pots, moulds, signs, and the plastic food models that sit in restaurant windows. The shops are specialised, one per trade, and sell to restaurant owners before tourists.

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.

ℹ️ Public street, you can walk along it at any hour; the opening hours are those of the individual shops. ⚠️ Many close on Sundays, but the association does not publish a single set of hours: if you are going for a particular shop, check it separately.

🚉 Asakusa · 6 min walk

Sources: kappabashi.or.jp · kappabashi.or.jp

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