Inside Trip to the Famous Tsukiji Fish Market

The huge Tsukiji market dates back to the 16th century, when the military rulers who had just moved Japan's capital to Tokyo wanted to ensure they had a proper channel to get enough fish to their hungry vassals at the nearby castle.

Today, Japan is the world's biggest consumer of seafood. The market handles 480 kinds of seafood, bringing around 40,000 buyers and sellers daily. The value of its seafood trade amounts to 1.8 billion yen ($20 million) per day on average, making it the heart of the national seafood distribution system and the biggest fish wholesale market in the world. It is the kind of place that Japanese take for granted, like, say, a big jelly bean factory might be ignored in the West.

But because of its long history, the traditional way that the fish are auctioned off by men in rubber boots and baseball hats using arcane hand signals, and the sheer volume and variety of fish available there every day, it has become a big hit with foreigners. Nearly 90 percent of visitors for tuna auctions are non-Japanese.

But popularity has brought its problems. One of the more notorious recent cases was that of a drunken British tourist (naturally) caught by a Japanese TV crew. He licked the head of a frozen tuna while two others, also caught on TV, rode nude on a trolley used by wholesalers. Tuna is a very expensive fish easily costing more than 1 million yen ($11,000). But some tourists touch them and even try to hug them.

Fed up, the market decided to ban visitors to auctions for its peak season at New Year's. So, when on Jan. 5, the first auctioning day of the year, a premium blue fin tuna fetched 9.63 million yen, the highest in nearly a decade, no tourists were in sight. The ban was lifted on Jan. 19, despite some grumbling from the fishmongers. The no-nonsense fishmongers at Tsukiji do not see themselves as an attraction, but rather as workers with pressing business to take care of. And they don't particularly crave attention. The most common complaint from auctioneers is tourists using flash cameras, which makes it difficult for them to read the finger signal code used for bidding. I have a finger signal they can use on the camera people!! The market put up English signs saying "No Flash!" but that was widely ignored.

The post-ban crowds have been better behaved. We shall see today. We got up early to meet our Tour Guide at 4am at the appointed location. We paid our fee, and off we went. I promise to take more photos, but only in areas where it is allowed.

BTW, today, March 14 is also the famous Geek Holiday, National Pi Day, or 3/14, get it? It is also Albert Einstein's date of birth. Please do not confuse it with the recently passed Square Root Day of 03/03/09. The next one, you can start resting up for is 04/04/16. Did you know there are no zeros in the first 31 digits? And that the record for memorizing the most numbers in pi is held by a Japanese man who can recall 42,000 numbers? So any way you want to slice it, Pi Day is special. Stay tuned for Avagadro's Number.

The Fish Market was perhaps the most interesting portion of the trip so far. It brings together business, tradition, and culture, in its original and highest form. The skilled men cutting the tuna with sumarai swords, and the buyers choosing the top quality tuna were highlights. We could have stayed all day. We also saw the uni (sea urchin) auction, fresh fish auction, and saw almost every kind of seafood on the planet. We even saw farm raised albacore from Turkey.

I will let you in on a BIG secret. The tuna is caught all over the world, from the north pole, all the way to Antarctica. Facilities on board the tuna boats can flash freeze the gigantic tuna on the spot. So some of the "fresh" tuna in the store is up to TWO years old!!!! The boat does not return to Tokyo until it is filled with tuna.

However, it is early in the morning, still. It is 7am, and we are already back in our hotel room. The buzz of the market has left us wet, but high on energy. Alas, the fish market stalwarts are getting old, and sons do not want to follow in their father's footsteps. Getting up at 3am every day does not fit the modern Tokyo lifestyle. Fewer auctions exist today as a result. Our wonderful guide, Naoto Nakamura, was once working here in the salmon auction. It no longer has an associated auction, due to supply and demand.

The stalls for the middle men run only $150 a month. Yet, 30% of them are not making any money. We saw the two most skilled fish cutters in action. One of his swords to quarter the tuna, was over 6 feet long. We also saw a few, not many young women working in the fish stalls. We also had a rare treat. We got to taste some whale sashimi. It tastes like a cross between tuna and beef. The price was only 7200 yen per kilogram.

After the tour, we went for fresh sushi breakfast next door. Several stands exist, and the popular ones had 40 to 50 people in line. We opted for a less well known vendor, and it was still oustandingly fresh and flavorful. Make sure you do this when you are here. We loved it, even the hakujin.

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