Tsujiki Market
Trip Start
Unknown
1
21
22
Trip End
Ongoing
Tokyo,
Japan
Friday, February 8, 2008
Tsujiki market is no cosy farmer's market. It's massive and industrial. If you are visiting you need your eyes out and your wits about you to avoid being run over by big trucks, little trucks, fork lift trucks, cars, scooters, bicycles and these crazy little runarounds with a barrel motor in the front. Quite apart from the vehicles there are the working fishmongers and buyers that feed Tokyo's insatiable demand for the freshest fish. It is unwise to get in the way of their attempts to go about their business. So beware snap happy visitors and despite low light levels leave the tripod at home (or smell like bad fish for the rest of the day) and be careful with your flash.
Tsujiki is a temple to seafood cuisine processing over 2000 metric tons of acquatic offerings a day. Once in the market (we had already missed the fresh tuna auction) one can browse through a myriad of the familiar and more bizarre. We watched as fishmongers expertly carved up a fresh tuna with meter long knives then another team use a band saw to divide another tuna to manageable chunks. They were deft, precise and wonderful to watch. Most fishmongers tolerated our presence. You won't find many ordinary Japanese browsing the buckets. One was casually enjoying an onigiri with one hand and a slice of his own wares between chopsticks in the other. "Good morning!" he said cheerily. After apologising for 20 minutes for getting in the way I was surprised and replied with an enthusiastic "Good morning" of my own.
We finished the morning in an adjacent sushi bar. The sushi chef made nigiri look easy. It isn't. I've tried. It was the freshest fish I have had and in particular the urchin was fabulous. Last time I had sea urchin was in NYC and I wasn't over enamoured of the taste. This was different. This was delicious. We left full and very satisfied.
Note: The rules surrounding entering the market are changing. Check out this Japan Times article.
