Trip 50

April 28,2025

Among the unique things we ever explored, is a street in Tokyo almost completely devoted to Kitchenware. Everything to do with kitchens, tools, pots, pans, dishes, chopsticks (yes, several stores devoted just to all things chopsticks), cookware galore, an entire store devoted to brushes, knives, cooking gadgets, uniforms for restaurants, furniture for restaurants, food model displays , a store that sells packaging for food. A whole (long) street on both sides. Some of these stores were large and a few multi-story , and some were so stuffed with their inventory you could hardly get in. It’s like the amusement park of kitchenware.

This is Kappabashi. The Kappabashi area is over 100 years old and boasts over 170 shops. There were certainly natives shopping there, but lots of visitors like us. Not knowing the “story” behind “Kappa”, when we passed the Kappa statue (see the photo in the linked story), it looked a bit odd and left us wondering; now we know.

It’s interesting and yet overwhelming, and busy.

You can spend a few dollars on a pair of chopsticks, or hundreds, depending on the wood, the finish, size.

We bought a few smaller items and had to walk several blocks to the tax free shop to get our 10% tax back, as each store does not handle their own tax refund process.

When retracing our route, we took a side street and found an interesting vending machine.

Our route to the SHIBUYA Scramble takes us to the SHIBUYA subway station. The Shibuya subway station is just massive.

We visited SHIBUYA in 2017 on our first trip to Tokyo and it was a wild thing to experience, with hundreds of people crossing a very busy intersection in four directions. In 2017, we visited at night time, with the lights and people crossing in all directions, it was dazzling.

Since then , SHIBUYA has been redeveloped (beginning in 2019) into an enormous shopping complex that is still under construction (scheduled to complete in 2027). The subway station is connected to a multistory shopping center, even before you get out to the “Scramble”. The area has changed so much from our visit in 2017, when there was only the Scramble at the intersection.

Of course, many people come to SHIBUYA to watch the chaos of the crossings (there was even a couple with the bride in a wedding dress in the center) , with restaurants on three corners (the fourth corner is the station) where you can be a spectator.

Our choice (after crossing ourselves) the SHIBUYA Scramble was the Share Lounge. The lounge is a unique experience, located within Tsutaya Bookstore in the Shibuya Scramble Square (a part of Tsutaya’s bookstore and lifestyle concept), offering a coworking and relaxation space. It’s part of Tsutaya’s blending retail, reading, and lifestyle. Located on the corner of the “Scramble” intersection on floors three and four. You pay a flat rate per hour (rate depends on whether or not you want alcohol included) and get unlimited WiFi, snacks, drinks, coworking space and, if interested, a view of the Scramble. They have open work tables, cubicles and seating at the front windows looking out on the square.

There were some crazy people driving Go Karts around, wearing costumes.

We left after our hour was up (all we wanted) and it had started to rain, but of course the Go Kart drivers were wearing rain suits and didn’t seem to be bothered.

Since we hadn’t brought umbrellas, it was a “scramble” for us to cross to the station side and not get soaked. It’s now getting to be “rush hour”, so going back into the station, it’s noticeably busier. We skipped the first train, getting ready to depart, as it looked to be full and took the next one that still had seats.