Tsujiki Fish Market (short version)

We got up early and went to the Tsujiki Central Fish Market. It was an enormous spectacle with huge fish, rows and rows of fishermen's stalls, auctions, and dock workers everywhere. After taking in the market, we grabbed some sushi and then explored the back alleys near the fish market, where we saw stalls with everything from boots, to produce, to seafood, to cooking supplies, to sweets.

After exploring and tasting some good...and not so good morsels (pickled octopus anyone?), we headed back to our hostel to do a little laundry, catch up on sleep, and prepare for the rest of the day.

For all the gory details...read on!

Tsujiki Fish Market (long version)

We got up at 4:20AM to catch the 5:04 AM train to the Tsujiki Central Fish Market, the largest of its kind in Asia. The market contains acres and acres of fish and other products. Octopus, salmon, tuna, shellfish, and things I can't even describe are piled on the docks, auctioned, and carted off to wholesalers who sell them to restauranteurs and other consumers. We caught a few of the auctions and explored the wholesaler stalls. We were struck by how surprisingly fresh it smelled and by the enormity of the market.

15.5 million USD worth of seafood is sold at the market...every day! It is not unheard of for one tuna to sell for 20 million yen, or $200,000 USD. A lot of the wholesalers had enormous band saws set up to take the first pass or two at some of the huge salmon or tuna. Then the enormous fileting knives came out, and the men went to town slicing up the fish into smaller and smaller parts to be sold. The picture here shows three men working a knife across a tuna to create a huge slab for further work. Later, they cut the back of the tuna in half, and we saw the spinal fluid spilling out. Yum yum.

After we saw enough (and we honestly could have spent hours more just exploring), we decided it was time for a bite. By 8AM, we had been up for nearly 4 hours, so we went exploring for breakfast at none other than...a sushi restaurant. 8AM seemed a bit early for sushi, but we had heard that a trip to the market was incomplete without a stop for sushi, and we were happy to oblige.

We looked for the place with the most patrons, and upon entering the first, we were told, "Japanese only." So, we tucked tail and walked back out. :) We found another location more hospitable to foreigners, and it turned out to be an excellent choice. We couldn't read any of the signs (a theme, since we always read the name of the restaurant on hotel maps or guidebooks with english letters but the signs at the destintations are in kanji). The sushi was super smooth and really tasty. It was served on a banana leaf (reminiscent of meals in India), and we left it up to the chef to pick our items. He surprised us with a few things we've never tried before. While I was trying to man up, get tough for Bev, and motivate myself, I turned around only to see Beverly had already dived right in. You go, girl!

We met a Japanese businessman originally from Tokyo but now in Chicago who had just arrived in Tokyo and came straight for sushi. We also met a woman from New Jersey who said we picked the best place in the market for sushi, Sushi Bun, and that she was leaving Tokyo later that day and came back for one last treat. So, all in all, we did a good job with our first sushi meal.

After breakfast, we went to a small coffee shop to plan the rest of the day. We decided to explore some of the alleys behind the market, which have all kinds of stalls and supposedly would give us a good feel for everyday Japanese life. They really did, and we got to try samples at a lot of the stalls.

We came back to the hostel after exploring and passed out. We woke up later for a great Okonomiyaki dinner (where we cook batter with other tasty things into a pancake onto a teppan grill at our table). It was a traditional Japanese restaurant, so we sat on the floor. Thanks to working out and stretching with Naresh, my knees actually survived the ordeal! We had to get assistance from the friendly young couple next to us, because we had absolutely no idea what to do with the batter and fillings next to our tabletop grill. Luckily the giggling (at us!) couple was happy to offer assistance to the very confused American tourists! A liter of beer later, and Bev was down for the count, so we went back to the room to catch up on our sleep. We're still a little jet-lagged, and the 4AM start to the day didn't help.

Over the next few days we are going to try to visit some more neighborhoods in Tokyo, try out Japanese noodle soup and Sukiyaki (grilled beef), and possibly take in a sumo match.