Kappabashi Kitchen Town Audio Guide

Welcome to Kappabashi Kitchen Town

Welcome to Kappabashi Kitchen Town. A few minutes west of bustling Asakusa, just where the waves of tourists fade away, an unusual street appears. What fills the shop windows here is neither clothing nor jewelry. It is rows of hanging knives, stacks of plates and bowls, pots and steamers — and food models so lifelike you could almost eat them. This is Kappabashi. Along roughly eight hundred meters of street, shops selling every kind of cooking and dining tool stand packed side by side. Originally, this was a street for professionals, where restaurant owners and chefs from across Tokyo came to stock their tools — a kitchen that has supported the city's dining scene from behind the scenes. In recent years, travelers from around the world have come seeking Japan's razor-sharp knives and those astonishingly realistic food samples. For anyone who loves to cook, it is a treasure trove you could explore all day. Over the next little while, let's trace the story held within this town of tools. If a shop draws you in, feel free to step inside. Let's begin with how this sacred ground for cooks came to be — the history of the tool street.