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Thinking about renewing your kitchenware? Forget Amazon and head to Kappabashi-dori instead!
Located between Asakusa and Ueno districts and lined up with little shops selling a mind boggling selection of kitchen items Kappabashi Kitchen Town is guarantted to make your heart flutter if you love to cook. A big head of a chef, which serves as a great landmark for finding the street, greets you upon arrival. It’s very much an area aimed at locals and those in the restaurant industry. While browsing through the endless isles be prepared to find all sorts of utensils, quality hand crafted Japanese knives, pots, pans, crockery, chopsticks, restaurant furniture, and heavy duty commercial kitchen equipment. You name it, they have it. While some shops are filled to the brim with mixed kitchenware, there are others that carry only specialized items: ceramics, coffee equipment, baking utensils, etc.
Kappabashi-dori is also an ideal place to buy yourself or someone who will appreciate it a new chef’s knife. You can even have your name engraved on the blade in kanji, if there’s a character for it, or katakana.
It is worth noting that everything is very reasonably priced, much cheaper than you’d pay in the States or even on Amazon. Shops will also have boxes of different kitchen items outside for a discounted price, so make sure to rummage through those piles.
You will also be amused by the fake display food which looks so appetizing you might actually confuse it with real food! It might actually make a great souvenir to take back home.
Kappabashi-dori is definitely not your typical touristy destination, but for anyone with even a passing interest in cooking it’s well worth a visit. It is so much fun just to take time exploring all the shops at your own pace.
You can easily while away couple of hours perusing all the isles and it’s unlikely you’ll leave without finding something worth buying. Please mind that many of the shops are closed on Sundays. You can either walk here after your tour of Sensoji Temple in Asakusa or arrive directly to Tawaramachi metro station.
