Kappa Bashi: Where Japanese Cooking Starts
Traveling to other countries is often an opportunity to find out the background of their culture. As the Japanese culinary scene thrives around the world, the behind-the-scene of Japanese cooking is one of the great discoveries from a trip to Japan. Seeing the world famous Tsukiji fishmarket and sushi restaurant kitchen is one thing, but shift your perspective to the tools they use, and you’ll discover that in one small district, in the middle of the populous district in downtown Tokyo, is where all the secrets are hidden.
Kappa-Bashi is known for kitchen tool stores and whole sellers among professionals, even among non-professionals, and cooking fanatics, but recently, tourists looking for something Japanese that upgrades their daily life. Kappa Bashi Dori Street stretches nearly a half mile with over 150 stores selling anything for kitchen and food business – plates, pots cutleries, aprons, signs and you name it. As opposed to touristy Asakusa, where the famous Sensoji Temple stands just a few blocks away, Kappa Bashi crowds are those who work in culinary industry, looking for the best cooking tools for their kitchen and restaurant interior. Of course, the stores are open to the general public, and there is enough amusement just to window-shop these stores. You will literally find every kitchen gadget in every imaginable size, color and quantity.
The beginning of this kitchen tool street was believed to be back in 1912, when there were only a few stores selling used kitchen tools and hardware around the central intersection of today’s Kappa Bashi area. The south end of the area at the Kikuya-Bashi intersection, is where a gigantic chef statue on top of a corner building greets visitors to this kitchen gadget wonderland. This building houses Niimi store, which carries tableware, kitchen tools, cutleries, plates and cooking machines. Opened in 1907 as one of a few stores when Kappa Bashi district started, Niimi’s selections are just as big as the statue on the roof top.
Once passing the chef statue, the line of unique and characteristic stores starts: it is estimated to take at least three hours if you hop in every store, but it is worth trying to see almost all of them because each store has its own specialty, such as rice cooking pots, serving trays and kettles, and most of them come in an unusually large size. You would wonder who would buy this and for what purpose, but over the years, these large-sized items find new owners. Each item comes in various sizes, materials and qualities, and customers take the best for their own usage. Some items are extremely expensive because of the quality of materials, but people looking for the highest level of cooking would be willing to pay no matter what. Reflecting Japan’s very rich and superior level of food scenes and varieties of styles from all over the world, Kappa Bashi features cooking tools of any kind; Japanese, Korean, Chinese, French, Italian, Thai and so on. Kappa Bashi provides the complete creativity and freedom of choice of cooking ware.
The recent waves of foreign visitors have brought creative ideas for souvenirs: At a store specializing in decorative lanterns that are often seen in front of counter restaurants for yakitori (skewered chicken), they receive custom orders of lanterns with customers’ names on them as a Japanese memento. Professional chef’s aprons and gowns are also popular purchases among foreigners because of the traditional Japanese prints and cool-looking calligraphy sign design, not to mention the strong fabric and sewing quality.
The most famous is the food samples: Almost everybody who goes to a restaurant in Japan would remember the showcase of food samples at the entrance, and many who travel to Japan recognize this as one of the most unique things about Japan. In recent years, stores in Kappa Bashi that carry food samples are busy with foreign travelers looking for something “very Japanese.” All the samples are made of plastic, but samples look so real that you would almost smell food or see smoke as if it is fresh from the grill.
For an unusual experience and new discovery of Japanese daily life and the secret of good Japanese food, take a side trip from the busy tourist area of Asakusa to Kappa Bashi. Take Tokyo Metro Ginza Line to Tawaracho Station, which is only a 5 minute walk to this kitchen gadget wonderland.
——– Nori Akashi : Public Relations Manager at the New York Office of JNTO
Japan National Tourism Organization
New York Office
One Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 1250, New York, NY 10020
TEL: 212-757-5640 www.japantravelinfo.com
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