Tsukiji Market

On 1/17 Anne and I went to Tsukiji Market (pronounced Skee-gee). Tsukiji is the largest fish (and various seafood) market in the world. Everyday, except Sunday, they unload and sell 2,000,000 pounds of seafood between 5:00am and 12:00 noon. It is one of Tokyo’s most famous places. The biggest draw comes from the tuna auctions. Various restaurateurs and food distributors bid on the tuna based on the quality of the fish. The Japanese take their seafood very seriously. The record of the most expensive tuna in Tsukiji market was a Blue fin Tuna fish auctioned in January 2001 with a shocking price of $184,000.00 US (that’s just for one fish).

We arrived at 6:00am after spending a good 20 frustrating minutes trying to find the market which we knew was only 3 blocks from the subway exit we came out of. Prior to arriving we had been told it is very busy there. That apparently was quite the understatement. It was crazy. There was constant traffic in the form of little trams (see picture to the left), trucks, carts, 60,000 some workers, tourists, and locals. The rows where the fish are sold are wide enough for 1 person. This makes it a tight squeeze when people pass you, which they do every couple of seconds.

After looking around we ate some sushi in a restaurant about 10 feet from the market. There were several restaurants which were filled with people enjoying their sushi breakfast. The fish market is surrounded by several blocks full of very small restaurants, seafood, cooking, and vegetable shops. We spent about 30 minutes checking many of these stores out. We ended our adventure by picked up some squid to enjoy later and heading back home.