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Tsukiji Fish Market

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Quan
Quan
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4 out of 5
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11
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6-10 of 11
Editor Pick

Tsukiji Fish Market

Tsukiji Fish Market

“We have to get up at what hour?” In order to witness the truly marvelous and grotesque, one must arrive at the Tsukiji Fish Market by 6am to see eels writhing on the floor and vendors haggling over huge tuna. Still, we didn’t make it out to Tsukiji until about 7:30am or so. By that time, much of the action had passed but we still managed to gawk at a few spectacles.

We meandered around the open air market and peered in the various stalls selling seafood, both familiar and unfamiliar parts. One vendor had bags of cuttlefish (a savory snack for those of us who enjoy the chewy treat), another sold sashimi, raw fish meat. But the most interesting vendor did not pay any attention to us as he carved slabs of fresh tuna from a huge carcass. The tuna’s head alone was larger than my office desk. As the vendor worked diligently, he drew long puffs off of his dangling cigarette. Not the most sanitary conditions I’ve ever seen but I figured that after he cut the meat, he would wash it off and prepare it for sale.

My husband informed me that the fishing boats often travel as far as off the coast of California, outside US jurisdiction, and return to Tokyo with their catch. Restaurateurs gathered in the mornings to participate in auctions for the best fish. The fishermen would later export the leftovers to other countries. Open air market stalls and larger covered buildings comprise the fish market. Auctions occur inside the covered buildings.

We also found restaurant supplies and fake Japanese display food in Tsukiji. My husband, deprived from fruit and vegetables for over a week, zeroed in on a fruit vendor who sold apricots for US$5 a piece. As he reached for his wallet, I swatted my husband’s hands and reminded him that at home, we could walk out of the grocery store with two bags full of apricots for $5. He had to suck it up and deal with two more days of deprivation.

Get to Tsukiji early. Don’t worry about making reservations at a sushi restaurant, just pick one that tickles your fancy and try it. We wove through the alleys until we found a clean, small sushi restaurant. Sushi breakfast at 8am is perfectly acceptable and you shouldn’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Where else will you be able to find anything fresher?

From journal So, What Else is in Tokyo Besides Disneyland?

Editor Pick

The Very Beginning of Sushi at Tsukiji Fish Market

  • November 22, 2005
  • Rated 5 of 5 by gwenamon from Toronto, Ontario
The Very Beginning of Sushi at Tsukiji Fish Market

Trying to hurry to arrive at the market early on a Saturday morning was a challenge for the two of us. But the pace was even more hectic at the market, which we got to around 7am (a Saturday-morning miracle!). What a mad, frantic, vivid place!

For every main sloshy aisle we crossed, we had to look both ways. Teeming throngs of fish mongers were pulling or pushing carts, or driving these tiny motorized trucks called ta-rays, all of them laden with fish of some sort. Dozens of times we were almost run over. We got beeped at and physically moved between shoulder-high stacks of seafood...some of it still flailing.

But amongst all of the chaos of needing to prepare for the wholesalers--who come around 9 a.m.--the mongers would still pause. Some even seemed to appreciate our incredulity. A few knowingly slowed down so I could take a shot. One man even posed the massive tuna carcass he was hacking (with the longest blade I’ve ever seen).

It was pretty gory, but still visually stunning. There were amazing colours. The deepest red squid in white containers. Crackled silver fish, white iced in blue boxes. And the mongers’ faces were so expressive. They had this incredible calmness about them, in the din of it all.

Supposedly, the market takes up 56 acres. Every day except Sunday, 2300 tonnes of fish end up there. Over 400 types of seafood are prepared for sale, leaving me to wonder how there can be anything left in the sea if THAT many fish come ONLY to Tokyo. I started feeling really bad for them--such beautiful creatures--after I got adjusted to the visual onslaught. Admittedly, it didn’t stop either of us from having an unbelievably fresh sushi breakfast.

Another quick fact – 60,000 people pass through the market each day. We pushed through a good chunk of them later on to get Colin’s delicious ramen lunch. He ate it at the standing counter, but almost everything around had been made into a table. The truck parked behind us on the street had an open back, packed with buckets. Even they had been covered with wood pieces for noodle-bowl resting. For us, it was perfect crowd-watching.

From journal Two Months in Japan

Editor Pick

Tsukiji Fish Market

  • July 3, 2003
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Juulia from Cork, Finland
The best time to go to Tsukiji is in the early hours of the morning, around 6am or even earlier, since this is when the activity starts and all the fresh fish comes in. There are lots of stout little fishmongers smiling at you, chopping up and carrying around huge chunks of fresh tuna and shouting "Irashai irashai!" (from irashaimase meaning "welcome").

I loved wandering around, witnessing all the gruesome-looking octopus tentacles and bags of uni (sea urchin). It's fascinating watching the breakdown of a gigantic whole tuna into small portions to be sold to eager fish-loving locals, ready to roll it into sushi or dip it in shoyu and wasabi.

After all that, find your way to one of the sushi bars in the area, where they will serve you the best and freshest fish you are ever likely to have the priviledge of tasting, stopping perhaps on the way for a warm sweet rice drink that you can enjoy on the street.

There are also various other shops where you can purchase sandals and hats and big fat carving knives and all kinds of random objects that might unexpectedly come into use. I thoroughly recommend a visit, particularly if you love fish as I do. You won't regret it.

From journal Tokyo in the winter

Tsukiji fish market

  • February 10, 2003
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Sweet Willie from Des Plaines, Illinois
We awoke at 5:30am and took the subway to Tsukiji station. We followed the men in rubber boots into the Tsukiji fish market, one of the largest in the world. The lift drivers were flying around and will not stop if you get in the way (got my shorts ripped by the teeth of one of the tunas as it whizzed by on the back of a cart.) There were frozen tuna everywhere. We were lucky and caught an auction going on. The scene was very neat, with a low fog enshrouding the tunas while the auctioneer belted out his auction.

If you keep walking into the back, you will see endless stalls with endless varieties of live seafood: eels, scallops, shrimp, and many I could not even identify.

There are also food stalls in various locations for some of the freshest sushi you will ever eat.

From journal Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima Island, & Mt. Fu

Editor Pick

Tsukiji Fish Market

  • August 23, 2002
  • Rated 3 of 5 by billmoy from Chicago, Illinois
If you can drag yourself out of bed early enough, venture out to the Tsukiji Central Wholesale Fish Market for a unique local experience in the middle of Tokyo.

The fish auction starts at 5AM for seafood wholesalers, and restaurant owners get in on the action of the auction at 7AM. There are about 1200 wholesaler shops, along with some sushi bars and food stalls. It is fascinating to walk about and see all the variety of the "catches of the day". Take a casual stroll around the many stalls, with all sorts of tuna, squid, crab, shrimp, and other you-name-it-we-got-it sea creatures. Some are still kept alive in fish tanks or big styrofoam buckets, and the locals take great pride in handling the fresh seafood. Most of the seafood products are sold to large and small local restaurants, but some small portions are also sold to individuals too.

The locals here do not seem to mind that tourists come out to check out this free-form equivalent of an aquarium, as the early hours holds the potential size of such a crowd down. Just stay out of the way of the men dragging huge slabs of fish and fresh seafood, some riding in little motorized vehicles. Do not wear your finest outfit here, as water and flopping fish and whatnot may splash you! The surrounding neighborhood is relatively blue-collar and faceless, but you are not far at all from the action in central Tokyo.

From journal Bill in Japan - modern TOKYO

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