Sarah’s Blog Post 19: February 12, 2016
People from other countries are often surprised by the food models that restaurants in Japan display in their front windows. I remember coming to Tokyo ten years ago and being surprised by the fake crepes that I saw in Harajuku. They looked so realistic. In the United States, it isn’t very common to see food models in front of restaurants. The only place I have seen them is in Japantown in San Francisco. Restaurants in the United States usually only have pictures in their menus to show customers what they are ordering. When I researched about food models, I learned about Kappabashi-dori. I decided to go because one of my friends who used to live in Japan also told me that he bought a very good knife from Kappabashi-dori.
At first, I thought it wouldn’t be very big. When I arrived, I was so surprised by how many stores there were and how many different kinds of things I could buy. Many websites said that you wouldn’t be able to buy real food there. This is true because there aren’t many restaurants in the area, but it is also partially false because there are many shops that sell specialty food products like dried beans, nuts, sauces, dressing, and tea. It is very hard to find some of these things in regular grocery stores. I bought two tea cups that remind me of “tsukimi” and some cooking utensils. I think I might go back there this weekend to buy souvenirs for my family and some food for myself.