The Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo is not only the largest wholesale fish market in Tokyo but also one of the largest on the planet. When you read those words it might not actually hit you as to the magnitude of this market, it is colossal! They handle over 2,000 tons of seafood daily, an obscene amount of seafood.
The market is open to the public daily at 9am and usually shuts down around 1-2pm. It’s best to get there early in the morning to see the most action.
This is an actual place of commerce so the public is encouraged to stay out of the way. Many fishermen will almost act as though you’re not even there. I almost got run over by people and/or moving vehicles several times, so stay alert! You can spend hours wandering around just looking at all the different types of fish and seafood.
THE LIVE TUNA AUCTION
Hundreds of Bluefin tuna are sold daily in a live auction inside the Tsukiji Fish Market. Due to a fairly recent global rise in sushi and sashimi demand these auctions are competitive and expensive. In the first auction of 2015 a single fish was sold for over $37K; just one fish. The international Union for Conservation of Nature states Bluefin tuna is at risk of extinction. People simply just can’t get enough of this fish!
They open the auction to the public but it’s limited to 120 visitors per day. Once you arrive at Tsukiji you apply for tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis that starts at 5am. If it’s a busy day they will start the ticket sales even earlier. The auction itself goes from 5:25am- 6:25 am, the first set of people go in for the first thirty minutes of the hour and the second half of the people go for the second thirty minutes of the hour timeframe. We went at 5am on a Saturday morning and were turned away; tickets to the auction were sold out by 3am that morning! Don’t be completely surprised if this happens to you as well. It’s a very popular place.
OUTSIDE OF THE TSUKIJI FISH MARKET
There are several other markets just blocks outside of the main Tsukiji Fish Market that make up the whole area. These markets are filled with ramen stands, sushi restaurants, fresh seafood, veggies, fruits and souvenirs.
Since the main market isn’t open to the public until 9am the outer markets are the perfect place to start your day off right with a sushi or ramen breakfast.
RAMEN BREAKFAST OUTSIDE TSUKIJI FISH MARKET
As we made our way through the market I couldn’t help but smell the intense aromas coming from the ramen stands nearby. Several different stalls were cooking the delicious Japanese noodles everywhere! They were selling the ramen for 600-800 Yen ($5-6). It was 8am and people were already lining up and eating the morning away.
It was the perfect time for some salty and savory ramen noodles.
We went to the first stall we saw with a long line. It went very quickly as the chefs made 8-10 bowls of ramen at once right in front of our eyes. I was mesmerized. My mouth could almost taste it just standing there.
It was food perfection. Affordable, salty with a pinch of spice, and plenty of food to fill up on before our tour through the Tsukiji Fish Market.
WANDERING AROUND
We spent about an hour and a half walking around the market just observing everything going on around us. There was every kind of fish or seafood you could think of. It was a blood bath…literally. We watched several fishermen kill the fish right in front of our eyes. Murder everywhere.
After a couple of hours of snapping hundreds of photos we were hungry again. This time we were going to get some fresh sushi!
SUSHI LUNCH OUTSIDE OF THE TSUKIJI FISH MARKET
Japan is known for it’s sushi. My favorite way to get it? Off of a conveyer belt. These places are so fun. First, they hand you a menu with a picture of every kind of sushi and the price of each that goes on the belt. Or you can tell how much the sushi is by the color of plate. So lets say it’s a pink plate, those plates of sushi cost 200 Yen.
You can take as much or as little sushi as you wish. When you’re all finished they count up your plates. Conveyer belt sushi is fun, convenient and very efficient!
You can’t go to Japan and not go to a place that serves sushi on a conveyer belt. For the area outside of Tsukiji Fish Market I suggest Sushizanmai.
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