Well good morning campers. Today I awoke to the tail end of sunset over Tokyo which has to be up there on my list of top 5 ways to start a day. Stunning views, being on the 35th floor of my hotel with a window in place of a wall probably helps...
So, 04:30 I set off to to Tsukiji Fish Market. The centre of Tokyo fish trading, the guidebook advises that US$ 15.5m of fish is sold here daily! That is a lot of fish.
The main attraction is the tuna market, starting at 4.30am each morning. Entrance to the public is not generally permitted although I discovered (sadly too late) you can apply for a viewing gallery permit. Number are very restricted though.
Photographs are at best frowned upon, and in certain areas are prohibited, so you will have to try and imagine it for yourself. I'll do my best to describe it.
First think semi-darkness, noise, crowded, strong smells, underlying chatter and whistles being blown for reasons I am unable to explain. There is a feeling of excitement, a heightened version of the feeling you get as you set up for a car boot sale and wait for the first shoppers to arrive.
Those of you familiar with markets think of the New Covent Garden market, the food section rather than the flower market. The outskirts of the market are covered, high roofed areas (think Smithfields). Within these are rows and rows of HGVs (that's lorries) - think back to queuing for the ferry with your parents at Newhaven / Dover for those family holidays to France.
The floor is covered with pallets and, whilst there are official 'walkways' there are so many people whizzing backwards and forwards on mini electric forklifts it is certainly pedestrian - beware! As I entered I acknowledged to myself that today was a day I would need to accept the strange looks as jeans, trainers, pashmina and mulberry handbag are possibly not the outfit combination of choice for a seasoned fish trader. Again, wellies would have been a good thing to pack. For the thousandth time sine I left the UK I wished they were not safely stored in my mothers loft just right now...
Anyway, I digress. You're in a high ceilinged covered market area, it is 04:45 and you are dodging electric forklifts and wooden pallets. You arrive at the end of this area and cross over into the outer market. Much smaller, row upon row of tiny stalls. Here are the sushi and sashimi restaurants, tiny crammed places that open at 5am and are packed, despite serving what appears to be a slightly unusual breakfast of choice. There are also the stalls selling everything you could ever associate with making and serving sushi. All the pickles condiments, cooking implements and knives, alongside the plates and assortment of tiny bowls and plates. Everything you could every need, and then a bit more.
Walking though you enter the trading area. Here, still covered, there are rows and rows of stalls, small white lanterns strung between them, a vast array of polystyrene boxes and people unpacking every type of seafood you have ever seen, and then some! It is early so the stalls are not fully set up, the focus is on unpacking, setting up the display, making tea and yet more electric forklifts!
It is a vast area, if I knew how big a football pitch was I'd compare sizes, but I don't. So I'd say it was 8x the size of my impression of the size of a football field. So big.
There is masses of noise, electric saws are used by some traders to cut the fish! Everyone is chatting and if there was ever a scene to describe 'bustle', this is it. You can tell the traders, who stride about with a clear sense of importance. It may have been my imagination but I am convinced they had the shiniest wellingtons. Fish and seafood are sold in every imaginable form, alive, fresh, frozen, pickled, you name it!
An important part of the market is Namiyoke-jonja, the Shinto shrine where people come to pray before work. Sadly under renovation currently, you can still see the two enormous carved lion heads, used in the dance ceremony. Incredible. What I liked most is that this is an area people use. There were two women feeding stray cats on scraps of the fish and a market trader paying his respects.
I finished my exploration with a trip to one of the tiny sushi restaurants. More like a cafe they are equipped to deal with non-Japanese speakers, and you order by pointing at the picture you like the look of. I opted for tuna and salmon sashimi. Served simply on a bed of rice, with pickles, iced coffee and a miso soup. Delicious.
If you're here, it is well worth the early start.
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