Tsukiji Fish Market

Tsukiji Fish Market (築地市場, Tsukiji shijou) is one of the largest wholesale seafood market in Japan, situated in Tsukiji of central Tokyo. One of its most well known products there is the fresh tuna.

I recall that no JR lines pass through this area, but you can get off from Ginza and walk there, or take other lines such as Toei Oedo line or Tokyo Metro line to get there.

More info such as the history etc can be found on Wikipedia.


As a tip, come in Tsukiji fish market in morning, and you'll get to appreciate the lively and busy market life there. Might as well stop by for some of the best tuna for lunch :o

We came a bit too late this trip, so most of the shops were closed by the time we've arrived. The pictures without my watermark on the bottom right are from my older picture hosting account Picasa.


These straight looking things are no seafood; they are in fact wasabi on sale


These odd transport vehicles are known as Turret Truck (ターレットトラック), which are a common sight in the fish market. Heard they exist in other areas such as factories, warehouses, and railroad stations too but this is the only place I've spotted these vehicles.


No smoking sign in Tsukiji. Different districts have their own no smokiong signs.


Now onto what I've eaten - too bad I do not know much about sushi types, but they're here anyway to get you hungry (unless you're not into raw seafood) ^^;








Tekkamaki (鉄火巻き)


Salmon roe sushi


This vegetable sushi is wrapped with bacon topped with mayonnaise. Unusual, but nice~











I remember that this particular tuna sushi is very expensive compared to the others


The damage in total... Don't wanna remember the price anymore >_<

When we've asked for the bill, rather than counting the dishes individually, one of the waitress used a machine to scan through the dishes and got the price in one sweep - never seen this outside Japan before :o


If you want to taste the fresh tuna sushi or just appreciate the atmosphere of a fish market, then Tsukiji fish market is definitely worth visiting.

Do be polite when visiting the fish market though, as the vendors and fishermen take great respect of their stuff - don't randomly touch things, and apparently one should refrain from using flashes when taking photos too. The market has banned foreign tourists from visiting before, so we have been warned. But if we play by the rules, then the visit would be an enjoyable experience.

However, it is apparently said that the fish market will be moved to Koto area in 2012 due to several reasons, including asbestos contamination, hygene, and other environmental issues. I have not found confirmations on this yet, but should this really be the case, there's only a few more years left before Tsukiji fish market to become mere memories not only for the locals, but to us as well.