In Tokyo's Kappabashi district, dubbed 'Kitchen Town,' visitors from around the world are snapping up items from premium knives to kappa-themed souvenirs ahead of Christmas. The roughly 800-meter strip between Asakusa and Ueno features nearly 170 kitchenware shops. Local experts and tourists reveal their top picks.
Kappabashi stretches about 800 meters between Asakusa and Ueno, lined with nearly 170 shops offering knives, chopsticks, cake molds, and plastic sushi souvenirs. The district's name has multiple origins: locals drying raincoats (kappa) on a now-vanished bridge (hashi), or a merchant named Kappa Kawataro who funded a waterway in the 1800s to curb Sumida River flooding. The mythical water goblin kappa, a homophone for the area's name, serves as its mascot.
While early 20th-century craftspeople and hardware merchants shaped the neighborhood, today's mix includes restaurants, cafes, and souvenir stores. Kamata Hakensha, a century-old knife shop that moved to Kappabashi 20 years ago, features home-use blades from Niigata and Gifu prefectures with handles of local woods like cherry, says fourth-generation sharpener Yosuke Kamata. Premium sets by artisan Kenji Togashi from Sakai, Osaka, reach ¥300,000 each, crafted using katana techniques. "These knives, which are expensive but very special, were created with the same techniques used for katana, which involve an incredibly laborious and complex process," he explains. They appeal to sushi chefs in Ginza or overseas fine-dining spots.
At Mantou, owner Mieko Uematsu stocks natural items like matcha, dashi packets, and kombu, plus kappa goods; she proposed kappa stuffed animals as shopping arcade director 30 years ago. She suggests kinako roasted soybean powder and kudzu starch: "were once staples in the Japanese kitchen but are now viewed as rarities."
Australian Alexander Arase bought three pink and indigo ceramic bowls for ¥4,430 at Fuwari. "Every time I come to Tokyo, I visit Kappabashi to look for different types of cutlery and tableware," he says. Finns Niko Isola and Venla Vainio picked up Tojiro Zen Black knives (¥9,000 and ¥13,200) from Tsubame-Sanjo, Niigata, at Tojiro Knife Gallery Tokyo, plus cups and plates. "We love cooking, and there are so many beautiful ceramic dishes on offer here in Kappabashi," Vainio adds.
Melbourne's Ivy Vo grabbed animal chopstick holders—otters at ¥700 each, goat at ¥500—from Kawauso Harry Asakusa Animal Cafe. French couple Dominique and Gilles Bordes-Pages found Anything maekake aprons for ¥5,000 each at Seven Uniform. "Every time we come to Tokyo, we make it a point to visit Kappabashi. It’s a fantastic place to pick up Christmas presents for the little ones in our family," Dominique says. From Kawasaki's Butajima ramen shop, chef Kyu Serizawa and employee Yuta Iijima bought tongs (¥1,200), a chikuwa stuffer (¥400), knife rust eraser (¥900), egg hole puncher (¥700), and peeler (¥900). "Kappabashi is the best neighborhood to come to find any kind of kitchen gadgetry you might need—they’ve got it all," Iijima notes.
Nozomi Meguro, opening Teishoku Nyon in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima, in January, selected an o-choko sake cup (¥470) and octopus chopstick rest (¥610). "My restaurant’s name actually has a smiley face attached at the end. I’ve been visiting a lot of shops to find cute goods to help fulfill my goal of making people smile," she says.