My visit to Tokyo 2018 (23)

A location map of Kappabashi

On the 6th of November I visited Kappabashi (合羽橋) which is located at the east of Taito District (台東区). This visit marks the end of my trip to Tokyo in 2018. According to the Tokyo Tourist Guide, Kappabashi is “a shopping area with a proud history of over 100 years. This 800-meter-long street is lined up with more than 170 wholesale stores offering Japanese, Western and Chinese tableware; Japanese and Western dessert-making tools; all types of kitchenware; raw ingredients of food, packing supplies; food samples, and more”.

A kitchen-ware shop

A bamboo-ware shop

Several types of shops are particularly popular here: kitchen-ware shops, food model shops, bamboo-ware shops and also a few shops that sell decorations for restaurants. There is also a shop that makes game ticketing machine/vending machine.  I particularly like the shops that sell imitating model of food and dishes, whether it is at full sized or an miniature.

A food-model shop

A Game-machine shop

In the vicinity there is a golden statue of a kappa (河童, river-child) and a plaque was put up in the 15^th year of Heisei (A.D. 2003) by a local merchant association to explain the background of this golden statue  which is also known as kawatarō (川太郎, , "river-boy"). As a Japanese folklore creature kappa is known in Chinese folklore as 水鬼 "Shui Gui", Water Ghost. In Japanese Shintō they are considered to be one of many suijin (水神). A hair-covered variation of a Kappa is called a Hyōsube. Hyōsube (兵主部 or ひょうすべ) is a child-sized river monster from Kyūshū that lives in underwater caves. It prefers to come out at night and loves eating eggplants. In many cultures water related deities are used to scare children of the dangers in staying and playing in the water.

A plaque put up in  2003

Kappa statue

      

        After visiting Tokyo in 2018, I plan on visiting Kyūshū (九州) as the destination of  my next visit to Japan.