A Casual Adventure Through Kappabashi: Spice, Kitchen Tools, and a Perfect Chocolate Ending

Kappabashi, Tokyo’s famous “kitchen street,” is a dangerous place for anyone who loves cooking tools. I hadn’t visited in a while, so the moment I stepped in, I was gone—happily lost among pots, pans, knives, ladles, and gadgets I absolutely do not need… yet somehow desperately want.

This time I went with a mission: buy a paella pan for future parties. A simple goal. Naturally, it turned into several hours of wandering, touching, imagining, and getting distracted by every shiny object. I already own way too many Japanese kitchen tools, so the paella pan felt like a safe, “sensible” purchase. That’s the theory. In practice… let’s just say the shopping bag got heavier than planned.

For lunch, I stumbled into a Hunan restaurant. Suddenly I was surrounded by people speaking Chinese, and for a moment I wondered if I’d accidentally teleported. The interior was all gray and beige—clean and modern. Hunan cuisine is known as the spiciest style in China. Not the numb-tingly Sichuan kind, but a straight-up fiery heat that hits like a confident slap. Apparently the humidity in Hunan is so intense that people use chili power to blast it away. Honestly, respect.

After sweating my way through lunch, I headed to what I swear is the best chocolate shop in Japan. I treated myself to a chocolate cake with mascarpone cream and a latte—the holy trinity of “I deserve this.” Loop, a shared electric kickboard, made the trip between spots wonderfully smooth, and zipping through Tokyo always feels like I’m in my own tiny action movie.

By the end of the day, I’d secured my paella pan (and, fine, a few extra “essentials”), enjoyed great food, had dessert that practically rewired my brain, and even squeezed in a bit of reading. Not a bad day at all.