Best Places to Shop: A Guide For Kappabashi Street in Asakusa (2025)

Check Places to Stay in Asakusa (Expedia)

Best Knife Shops on Kappabashi Street

Can’t really make a visit to Japan without at least shopping for some Japanese knives to bring back home. I found that the prices in Tokyo, while comparatively higher considering it’s tourist traffic, was still considerably cheaper compared to the prices back at home in Vancouver. I set out to find a good nakiri knife (for vegetables) but also found a great selection of popular Japanese steel, such as gyutous, santokus, and petty knives.

つば屋庖丁店 | CUTLERY TSUBAYA

つば屋庖丁店 is often recommended in lists from Reddit for some of the best knife stores in Tokyo. I found the staff to be relatively helpful, although they weren’t able to answer some of the more detail questions about the types of knives found in the clearance bin located outside the store (perhaps due to language barrier).

Speaking of which, the clearance bin often has some sort of gem to be picked out (I found a unique steak/utility Shin knife for ~5600 yen here), which I didn’t notice being an opportunity in many of the other rival stores.

• Directions to つば屋庖丁店 | CUTLERY TSUBAYA

Kama-Asa

Kama-Asa is also a notable knife store in the Kappabashi area, and often recommended. The store is divided into two buildings, one meant for kitchenware, and the other purely dedicated to knives.

The knife building has two floors, the bottom being the main knife showroom, with the upstairs being a waiting room of sorts (primarily for customers waiting on engravings to be completed). The engravings are completed by the cashier, where you can easily see the staff working carefully on the custom work.

The staff here were especially helpful, but not overbearing, and are English-friendly (but not purely catering to English tourists like other stores). The knives offered are of high quality, and often VG10 stainless steel at an affordable price.

• Directions to Kama-Asa

Meisyou Knives (合羽橋 銘匠 本店)

While I didn’t purchase anything from Meisyou, I found the staff to be very helpful and welcoming to an English-customer (the younger staff member was dedicated to helping foreigners) with little judgement on how experienced you were with knives or not. They also offered guidance and tests on knives presented.

• Directions to Meisyou Knives (合羽橋 銘匠 本店)

Tojiro Knife Gallery Tokyo

Tojiro is a well-known and largely used retail brand for Japanese knives. Whilst more mainstream and mass produced than other options, the quality of their steel, and their prices at this location, are worth a shopping stop.

The gallery is more oriented towards those who perhaps may know what they’re looking for already, but the staff were all very friendly and open to questions about their product line.

I ended up buying a few knives here as they offered a large selected of VG10 knives at one of the lowest prices in the area.

• Directions to Tojiro Knife Gallery Tokyo

Kamata Hakensha

Kamata Hakensha is a well-established knife shop here, with over 90 years of history. They offer a plethora of knife options, both OEM and 3rd party, at reasonable prices. Truly a vast amount of options are available here. They do engravings on the spot if desired. The staff weren’t as friendly here with me, however, but not exactly offputting either.

• Directions to Kamata Hakensha

Best Kitchenware Shops on Kappabashi Street

We absolutely adore Japanese plates, bowls, and the like, for our house. The design and build quality has always been in the top-tier. To me at least, Japanese plating has always elevated the experience of eating, so it’s always worth picking up a few new items each time I make a stop in Japan.

Fujita Sales (藤田商事㈱)

I stocked up the most here on bowls and plates. They offer great prices on a vast array of items, as the designs are typically a few cycles older. If you’re okay with not keeping on the cutting edge of ramen bowl design, and can accept bowl designs from 2016, then you’ll be tremendously happy with the prices here.

Careful walking around, though, as everything is piled up, and the aisles small. I must admit, the staff were atrociously rude here for Japanese customer service. I’ll accept the abuse given the deals, however.

They also ship worldwide.

• Directions to Fujita Sales (藤田商事㈱)

Kajiwara Kitchen Supply

Kajiwara lures you into its shop with the loss leaders posted out front. Chopsticks, bowls, rests, spoons, all at bargain prices. I purchased many sets of chopsticks here, that ultimately became my most-used pairs at home. They were only about 70 yen each.

Inside, you’ll find pretty much anything you need for your kitchen. The store services restaurants as well as home kitchens, so you’ll find amongst the rice cookers and pots, industrial grade pressure cookers, air fryers, and more. It’s pretty neat.

• Directions to Kajiwara Kitchen Supply

Kama-Asa

Adjacent to the knife building of Kama-Asa lies their two-floor kitchenware section. There are plenty of professional-grade cookware to be found here from Oigen, Yamada, Tsubame, and more. These were slightly out of my price range and they also wouldn’t fit in my compact check-in, but for those who can afford the space, it’s worth a shopping trip.

• Directions to Kama-Asa

Kappabashi Maeda (かっぱ橋まえ田)

I found this little shop to be quite charming and offering plenty of Japanese plates and bowls at affordable prices. They share some of the same stock as Fujita Sales, but supplied additional variety. I picked up a few things here as well.

• Directions to Kappabashi Maeda (かっぱ橋まえ田)

Check Places to Stay in Asakusa (Expedia)

Thanks for Reading!