In Kappabashi, a roughly 800-meter-long strip between Asakusa and Ueno, locals and tourists alike spill out from a dense row of nearly 170 kitchenware shops. Their shopping bags tell the story ¡ª knives, chopsticks, cake molds and plastic sushi souvenirs.

No wonder they call this place ¡°Kitchen Town.¡±

The origins of Kappabashi¡¯s name are just as varied. One story involves locals who dried their raincoats (kappa) on a now-defunct bridge (hashi), resulting in the amalgamated form of the district¡¯s current name. Another tells the tale of a local merchant named Kappa Kawataro, who funded the construction of a new waterway in the 1800s to alleviate flooding from the nearby Sumida River.

The area is home to many images and statues of the kappa, a mythical water goblin that resembles a frog-like creature with a beak. Since its name is a homophone of Kappabashi, the kappa has become the district¡¯s de facto mascot.

While the melange of kitchenware shops, restaurants, fancy cafes and kitschy souvenir stores in Kappabashi today is a far cry from the monozukuri craftspeople and hardware merchants who proliferated in the area in the early 20th century, the neighborhood still offers glimpses of its past.

Knife shop Kamata Hakensha is a 100-year-old company that relocated from a nearby neighborhood to its current Kappabashi location 20 years ago. Fourth-generation knife sharpener Yosuke Kamata says the shop¡¯s bestsellers include knives for home use sourced from regions known for their craftsmanship, such as Niigata and Gifu prefectures, and fitted with traditional handles made from local woods, including cherry.

He gestures toward a set of knives made by artisan Kenji Togashi in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, noting that those premium blades can fetch up to ?300,000 apiece.

¡°These knives, which are expensive but very special, were created with the same techniques used for katana, which involve an incredibly laborious and complex process,¡± he says, adding that such items are typically purchased by chefs working at sushi restaurants in Ginza or high-end restaurants overseas.

At Mantou, shopkeeper Mieko Uematsu sells natural food items, including matcha, dashi packets and kombu kelp, as well as an array of kappa-themed goods. While serving as director of the local sh¨­³Ù±ð²Ô²µ²¹¾± (shopping arcade) some 30 years ago, she suggested selling kappa-themed stuffed animals and other trinkets, making her something of a neighborhood celebrity.

She recommends that visitors pick up traditional condiments such as kinako (roasted soybean powder) and starch made from the kudzu vine root, which she says ¡°were once staples in the Japanese kitchen but are now viewed as rarities.¡±

Alexander Arase, an Australian visiting family in Tokyo, picked up a set of three pink and indigo ceramic bowls costing ?4,430 in total from...