Tsukiji

Last Wednesday, Sam and I decided to make our way to Tsukiji - the world's largest fish market.

Since most of the customers are wholesalers, the action at Tsukiji begins early and ends as the city of Tokyo is waking up. This being the case, we awoke at 3 AM (hence the three finger gesture) and ate some avacado sandwiches to supercharge the day (Sam's suggestion).


The ride through the empty streets in the light rain was strange - it was so early that we made record time on our bikes, and our voices echoed off of buildings.

We followed our maps to where we thought the market was, and after some searching went to ask a guard in the parking lot. "Ooki-na maguro wa doko desu ka." (Literally: "Big tuna where is?")

Following his directions, we knew we had found the place.

The market consists of rows and rows of stalls, where vendors sell their goods daily. There is little space to walk, and as such there is even less space for the touristy type to walk around.

Forklifts like this one zoom around, not expressing tolerance for the gawking tourist. They've got business to attend to.

The tuna auction is perhaps the most impressive portion of the market. Every day these massive fish are hauled in, inspected, and auctioned off. Good thing we saw the "No Admittance Without Permisson" after coming out of the warehouse.

These tuna account for a lot of the money exchanged at Tsukiji. Annually, over 6 billion dollars worth of seafood passes through Tsukiji.

Over 2000 metric tons of seafood is handled every day.

After the tuna is auctioned off, it is shipped to the respective purchasing stall for slicin'. The cutting of the tuna was amazing to watch. These men had mastered an art, working with supreme efficiency and skill.

Getting out of the cold for this sushi meal was great. My hands were so cold I couldn't operate the chopsticks well, and my right foot was freezing because it had been splashed with icy fish water. It was some of the freshest, most delicate sushi I've ever eaten.