Tsukiji Fish Market

Great on that first early morning waking before dawn, seeing the hustle and bustle, then having a FRESH sushi breakfast nearby!

an absolute must. get there at the very latest by 5:00am.

The only way to eat sushi is to eat it an hour after it was auctioned off a block away in the world’s largest fish market.

I arrived around 8am and saw the men on the carts whizzing by very fast. The traffic was kind of dangerous. There wasn’t a clear path to the market warehouse, so we just tried to get to the other side alive.

In the warehouse, we saw all the seafood laid out. It is the beginning of February, we saw sliced tuna, the freshest ones were bright hues of red. We saw some gigantic crab and very bright shrimp – they must have been fresh. I wonder who gets served such food, because all seafood I’ve ever seen on a plate are smaller in size. The restaurants were hard to find.

If you arrive facing the market from the station, the market area is to the right. Sushi is about 20,00+ yen a plate, I found it pricey seeing that that is what I would pay for a sushi buffet in Toronto. There was just tuna, no salmon. Sushi for breakfast was a bit of a far out idea, and I lost patience trying to find a cheaper sushi restaurant. I recommend a sushi restaurant that is in the 2nd street row, closest to the market, it should say the chef can partially understand english. The price is a bit lower too 15,00 yen.

Sushi Tora gets their fish from here!

The “best” sushi is supposedly served up early in the morning, but you can get great sushi at any time of day or night at any of the 24-hour restaurants next to the market.

Also, be sure to check out Honganji, the big Indian-looking temple up the street.

...and see how many types of fish you can identify. It is amazing how many I couldn’t. Very interesting, but definately for morning people.

When I went in the summer of 2001, I didn’t see too many tourists, though. It’s definitely a good place to see—I was personally impressed by all the fish longer than I am tall. I didn’t attend the fish auction; I just wandered among the hundreds of stalls, dodging buyers, sellers, and people driving tiny (but fast) carts all over the warehouse and dock. Tsukiji is a great place to get pictures, that’s for sure. You can see my pics at http://cosleia.smugmug.com/keyword/fishmarket.