We've come to Asakusa
To look round Kappabashi
It's known as Kitchen Street
It's a street with lots of shops
With kitchenware
Like plates & cooking stuff
It's also where you can find Japanese knives
If that's what you're looking for
There's a couple of things we want to find
So we're going to have a look round
I always think Japanese plates
Look really nice
When they have all the different plates for the different dishes
And the dipping sauces & things
So we're just going to have a look
In particular
We're looking for
A little drawer that you can hold your chopsticks in
That we've seen in several restaurants
And I couldn't find one anywhere
In the UK
But I'm thinking they've got to have one somewhere here
Yep, I think we're in the right place
We're in Cooking Street, with the giant chef!
There really is all manner of things here
Anything you've ever seen in a Japanese restaurant
You'll find in one of these shops
There's plates, steamers
All sorts of saucepans
Sushi boats
All manner of things
And most of them - like this one behind me
Is quite a nice-looking shop
But most of them aren't fancy shops
Some of them are a bit like a jumble sale
They've just crammed in as much stuff as they can
It's a really big choice
And I'm so nervous walking round these with my backpack on
Especially when they've got all these stacks of plates
And breakable stuff!
I thought it was going to have eyes!
Here's a shop full of the fake food models
That you see in the windows of restaurants
It says "Sample" on the sign
There's just so many different things
It's unbelievable
And all the stuff there is for the kitchen
For cooking & preparing meals
And all the different spoons & utensils & things
It's been a bit difficult to show you inside the shops
Because some of them had "no pictures" signs
I guess they don't want tourists coming & taking pictures
And not buying anything
Which is totally understandable
I know what it's like being on my stall
When people just take photos
And don't buy anything
So I can understand that
Do you think this is an old machine for making kakigori?
Yes, it's a shaved ice machine
I just saw a whole shop that had nothing but brushes
All different types of brushes
We're in this one shop
And they're playing my favourite album by Reel Big Fish
This shop's got loads of 50s Americana
I really want that tall table & stools for my kitchen
They've got loads of cool signs as well
And a bit of neon at the back
Drawer hunting update:
We've seen a few chopstick drawers
And a few chopstick boxes
Some were a bit bigger than we wanted
Some were a different colour
As always, you can't find exactly what you're thinking of
We've seen several shops with them in
So we're just having a look in a few more places
Before we decide
The most unusual things I've seen looking round today
Have been some really tiny cookie cutters
I don't know if they were for garnish
Or maybe for cake decorating
I've also seen a whole rack of brands
For stamping designs
Onto the top of cheesecakes
Or onto the top of dorayaki pancakes
To make a little design
I think if you're into food
Especially if you're into cooking Japanese food
You could spend ages looking round the shops here
There's actually quite a lot of shops
And each one is packed full
Even if you're not really into cooking
It's still pretty interesting to look round
And see all the things that there are
There's kappa signs all the way along at the top
Because this is called Kappabashi
This monster is from Japanese mythology
It's called a Kappa
Kappa are mischievous creatures
That lurk in rivers
They like cucumber
Which I'm guessing is why a cucumber sushi roll
Is called a kappamaki
And there's lots of other interesting things to spot here too
Who are these ladies?
They're all the way along by the signs
Look up here, there's a kind of chandelier of those ladies I've seen on the signs
They look like they're flying
Look down there, you can see the SkyTree
We've made a decision on the chopstick drawer hunt
They've got several sizes down here
They've got some wooden ones
We just bought the chopstick drawer
When we took it up to the counter
She said "wait, wait!"
I'll get you a fresh one out
We had thought some of the stuff on the shelves looked a bit dusty
And some of the wooden things looked a little bit damaged
But it turns out that's because they're samples
And the actual stock that you get
Is in the back room somewhere
I don't know if that's true for all the shops
But that's what happened at this one
I've spotted this cute statue
He is: Kuruki
He's a white shiba inu
The official mascot of Japan Kuru
His whole body will turn blue
If he discovers goodies & charm points in Japan
Lots of the plates & ceramics are so cute
I wish I could buy more of them
But they're just so heavy
To bring back your suitcase
And very breakable!
It's a shame there aren't shops like this in the UK
Although you can get that sort of thing
From Doki Japanese Tableware
They often have a stall at Hyper Japan
And sometimes at comic con as well
So if you want to come here
It's called Kappabashi
It's in the north east of central Tokyo
In the Asakusa area
We came from Tawaramachi metro sttaion
It was a really short walk from there
You can also get here from Asakusa Station
So if you're there looking round Senso-Ji
That's the really big temple there
This is just a short walk away
If you like kitchen stuff
You might also be interested in this place
We found in Osaka
If you want o buy Japanese kitchenware
Or plates, or all those little dipping sauce saucers
And all the tiny plates for Japanese food
There's loads of shops selling kitchenware
On this little shopping arcade
It's right near Denden Town
It's a traditional-looking Japanese - I think they call it a shotengai
There's loads of them here
I think it's the Kappabashi of Osaka
There's sushi boats up there
And all these miso soup bowls
Probably aren't all miso soup
Bowls for lots of things
I'd like some of this for our gyoza
I don't want to take it home
Bit too heavy
Heavy & breakable!
It does look good
Have you found one?!
Phil's been looking for a box to keep your chopsticks in
Like the ones we've seen in restaurants
We couldn't find one anywhere
I wanted to get him one as a present for his birthday
I found one on Ebay
But the postage from Australia was going to be about £35!
This is fantastic
This is - what... £10
1260 yen
This shop's got all kinds of kitchen stuff
It's actually massive
We just wandered into a backstreet
By Denden Town
Well that was kind of strange
We were in the kitchen items shop
We took the chopstick box up to the counter
And the guy said all the items on the shelves are samples
For display
They don't actually have any stock ready for sale at the moment
So they couldn't sell us anything
Seemed a bit odd!
This place is called Sennichimae Doguyasuji
Or Cooking Tools Street
We just stumbled across it
As we were walking from DenDen Town
That's the Akihabara of Osaka
And Dotonbori
The famous area around the canal
If you want to see more of what I've been doing in Tokyo
There's lots more videos on my channel
As well as lots of videos
With help & advice for planning your trip to Japan