Kappabashi-dōri

Among the more unusual goods are the plastic food models, called sampuru, displayed outside Japanese restaurants. The name is believed to come from raincoats called kappa that were hung to dry near a bridge, or from a merchant named Kappaya Kihachi who financed a waterway. Because kappa is also the name of a water sprite, the shops have adopted it as a mascot, and its figures appear along the whole street. Nearby Sōgenji temple, known as Kappa-dera, holds the grave of Kappaya Kihachi.