Another epic day of schlepping. We started off in \u00e6\u00b5\u2026\u00e8\u008d\u2030, home of the famous \u00e6\u00b5\u2026\u00e8\u008d\u2030\u00e5\u00af\u00ba and the perhaps more famous \u00e4\u00bb\u00b2\u00e5\u00ba\u2014\u00e9\u20ac\u0161\u00e3\u201a\u0160. The area is sprucing itself up just a smidge, and I was surprised to see a couple of rickshaw drivers (runners? what do you call these guys?) in traditional garb soliciting business from tourists. On Nakamise-dori, I bought the smallest \u00e6\u2039\u203a\u00e3\u0081\u008d\u00e7\u0152\u00ab imaginable for Jenny, as per her request. The crush surrounding the temple was, as always, pretty amazing. Many schoolgroups, tour groups, etc. This sort of thing becomes completely self-perpetuating: I think the real reason everybody goes there is because everybody goes there. This is the counterpoint to Yogi Berra’s old saying. We wound up getting a little off the beaten path, wandering down some of the dowdier \u00e5\u2022\u2020\u00e5\u00ba\u2014\u00e8\u00a1\u2014 in the area, where Gwen picked up a pair of clogs for her niece. We made our way over to a supermarket, and picked up a few \u00e3\u0081\u0160\u00e3\u0081\u00ab\u00e3\u0081\u017d\u00e3\u201a\u0160. We plopped down near the temple to have our snack. I showed Gwen the ingenious way nigiri are packaged, so the nori doesn’t get soggy from contact with the rice, and the correct way to unwrap them. She was instantly hooked.<\/p>\n
I checked a map, and saw we were walking distance from \u00e3\u0081\u2039\u00e3\u0081\u00a3\u00e3\u0081\u00b1\u00e6\u00a9\u2039, the commercial kitchen supply district, so we wandered over there. Gwen was keen on seeing the plastic food, but really, the overwhelming volume and selection of everything<\/em> in Kappabashi is what makes the place fun. Where else can you find a store with ten different kinds of ramen strainers? We stopped in several knife stores, and eventually Gwen found a big carbon-steel chef’s knife to get as a gift for Heather, the friend who had made our wedding cake.<\/p>\n Next stop, \u00e9\u0160\u20ac\u00e5\u00ba\u00a7. We went to \u00e9\u00b3\u00a9\u00e5\u00b1\u2026\u00e5\u00a0\u201a<\/a>, the pricey but super-deluxe paper store. Again, quite a crush of people. Gwen spent a lot of time scoping out possible gifts to send home, and we wound up dropping a good chunk of change on exquisite paper products there. Examined the calligraphy supplies upstairs. Smelled the incense that pervades the store.<\/p>\n