Giant tuna and other raw fish!!

---

Nicky; So our last day in Japan has started quite early, at 4.30am!!! But we wanted to go to the Tsukiji fish market before we left. It is the biggest fish market in the world and it is where all the local restaurants buy their fish. Because it is a working market technically visitors aren't allowed in but they seem quite used to having tourists wandering around with cameras around their necks - there is even a special entrance for us - and as long as you mind the motorised carts full of fish that go whizzing up and down the aisles the sellers dont mind. I have never seen so many varieties of fish and seafood and in such large quantities before. There were massive polystyrene containers of prawns, crab, eels, oysters, flounder, mullet and a million others that i couldn't identify. But the main attraction was the tuna auctions which start at 5.30am and as you can see are selling some of the biggest fish I have ever seen. The men selling them get really animated and, although we had no idea what he was saying, it was really exciting to watch. If you wander around the stalls after the auctions you can see some of the tuna being cut up and sold off as sushi, its not particularly pleasant to watch but there is obviously real skill in butchering it. Seeing as this is the best place in Japan, possibly the world, to get fresh fish, we wanted to try sushi at one of the little restaurants in the market. Now I have never thought of having raw fish, rice and soy sauce for breakfast before and I cant say I will again but it was delicious!!We chose two mixed options so we could try as much as possible and had tuna, prawns, squid (which was just a bit rubbery raw) and this amazing soup with onions and prawn heads in. I am really glad we got the opportunity to try proper sushi and it was great to see the chef preparing it in front of us.

Neil:
I have to say i'm not a fan of sushi - but while in Rome!! I really enjoyed the market and it was worth getting up at 430 to see. It's our last day in Japan and I'm looking forward to arriving in a country where we can understand whats going on - Australia. Our experiences in Japan have been really interesting. The Japanese have some excellent values and the way that the country is run seems to be faultless on the surface. We could all learn a lot by the way they do things - everything is on time, public places are increadibly clean and the people have impecable manners; it's a joy to experience.

---