1/7/08 Tsukiji Fish market

We woke up early and went to the Tsukiji fish market today- it is the largest fish market in the world. Early in the morning there is an auction and then the fish is sold by middle men. The photos and videos I took are in the market (middle men). There is lots of action and you really have to pay attention or you could get hit by someone driving or pushing a cart. The sheer volume and variety of fish is incredible. They were processing a lot of it on the spot- including cutting up stuff that is still alive. Some of the fish looked amazing- so much tuna/toro that I would love to eat. Other stuff looked pretty funky.


After the fish market Kuniko had an appointment so I headed off on my own. I went to Ginza which is very high end shopping. The Sony flagship is there which is loaded with large TVs and there current stuff. I didn't find Ginza nearly as interesting as the other neighborhoods Kuniko took me to (it was my idea to check it out, not hers). After that I headed to Roppongi which was even less interesting to me. Lots of westerners are there and it's much dirtier that the rest of the city. I did a long walk to Tokyo tower and went up it (its similar to the Eiffel tower). The view from the observation platform is good and gives you a perspective of just how large and dense this city is.- see below picture.In the evening I went to dinner with Kuniko's parents- sushi. Just as we sat down the sushi chef pulled out a large live fish (2-3 feet long) and proceeded to cut it up and pull off the skin and bones and pull out the liver. The platter below with all white fish is that fish along with it's liver. That is definitely the freshest raw fish I have ever had. It was fitting to have sushi after going to the fish market.