Tsukiji

Tsukiji needed little introduction as a must-do in Tokyo. No superlatives needed to describe this place. Worshipped as a seafood mecca, thousands of tourist throng this vast complex daily. It has reached a point where gawking visitors have become a nuisance to the stallholders there. Engrossed photographers trying to get that elusive shot often stand in the way of electric buggies, the workhorse of  Tsukiji. Naturally, we had to see it for ourselves.

We stayed near Asasuka Station G19 about three stops from Ueno Station H17  via the Ginza Line. Using the Hibya Line ,we rode six stops to Tsukiji Station H10.  Finding the market was a nightmare as we had difficulty getting our orientation once out from the station. Signage in English  were few or we might have missed it. After some detour and about two blocks later, we arrived.

Way into Tsukiji

Followed the crowd

We missed the fish auction, having arrived after 7.00 am. Some said that tourists have since been disallowed into the auction area. It was academic in view of our late arrival. First order of the day was to be vigilant of those electric buggies ferrying seafood. These buggies have a drum-like front with a steering wheel attached on top. The driver stood behind and at his back, a wooden flatbed to carry fresh marine products. They operate silently but can zip through narrow passages in the wholesale market in a jiffy. Unaccustomed tourists often block their way and work. Thankfully the mild mannered Japanese overcome this nuisance with a gentle hoot on the horn. In China, I think expletives #@$%&* would have been hurled! If you recognize the allocated pedestrian walkway, you would be fine.

Silent electric buggies

Tsukiji superhighway

Once auctioned, the tunas were sorted and ready to be processed. A layer of white ice covered each fish as a result of thawing from its deep sea sojourn. Tail and fins were removed to help gauge the quality of the tuna for quality and texture. Note that a cross section of the tail portion remained attached to the tuna as a badge of its quality and assessment. A sticker of ownership of the successful bidder was pasted behind the pectoral fin. We were looking at a hollowed out tuna.

Thawing tunas

Badge of quality

Ownership claim after the bidding

The chainsaw station was best viewed from afar. Tunas were cut into longitudinal sections. The scene was no different than that of timber sawmills. Chunks of tuna were lumped together like pieces of firewood, but in a delicious way. Workers were busy with their allocated chore oblivious to the camera totting tourist.

No different from a sawmill

The engrossed tourist

Sawn tunas

Tsukiji offered the widest range of seafood ranging from tuna chunks or slices, abalone, scallops, all kinds of crab, sea urchins, octopuses etc. Some looked dangerous, some alien-like whilst others were out of this world ........ in terms of price or my affordability!

Snails

Octopus

Crab legs in sawdust

Slugs

Crab legs

Sea urchin

Oysters

Dried stuff

Fresh tuna slice

Yummy but getting rarer

Away from the wet section are tuna shops. An old fishmonger demonstrated his craft, using a cock screw tool to extract samples of tuna for his prospective client. We saw the richness of the tuna meat with its deep vibrant red texture. It made us eager to try out sashimi located at restaurants outside the wholesale market.

Working his craft with passion

Choosing a restaurant at Tsukiji was not difficult.  We headed for the shop with the longest queue. It was next door to Nakaya a local foodie institution with a large life sized menu board. It was a hot summer's day and the queue snaked around the corner but just close enough to keep the iconic sushi street in view. The wait was 45 minutes. Traffic was busy around us but we persevered. The old lady  from our intended shop handed us the menu to pre-order. No photographs were allowed and all photos were taken outside. Anyway, we forgot about photography once the sashimi arrived :)))

Ate from the shop in the middle with the word 'Ta x x'

Easy to order picture menu