Tsukiji Fish Market Reviews (Tokyo, Japan)

The Freshest Fish

Atlanta, Georgia

September 16, 2009

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Best of IgoUgo While I got a glimpse of a giant tuna being whizzed away on the back of a buyer's cart, I did not see the famous tuna auctions that take place in the wee morning hours at the Tsukiji Fish Market. No matter. My senses were pretty overwhelmed ...Read more While I got a glimpse of a giant tuna being whizzed away on the back of a buyer's cart, I did not see the famous tuna auctions that take place in the wee morning hours at the Tsukiji Fish Market. No matter. My senses were pretty overwhelmed anyway.

The fish market is located by the bay. When I got to it around 6 AM, I was glad I had already had a cup of coffee. You have to keep alert in this area, or you'll get run over. This is a place of serious commerce, and the fish sellers/buyers ride carts at fast speeds up and down the aisles.

In truth, when you first get to this area, it's hard to see it's a fish market. It certainly doesn't smell all that fishy. To one end, produce is what is being sold. Closer to the water, you'll find fish but don't expect it to be laid out flopping on the concrete floors. Rather the fish is in Styrofoam cases, ready to be bought and carted away by restaurants. If you walk up and down some of the stall aisles by the fish market, you will see fish so fresh it's still swimming in buckets of water, but this isn't what I found directly in the midst of the market chaos.

The thing you really want to do here is not sight-see. It's to hop into a line at the concrete buildings with numbers on them that you'll see towards the back of the market, not near the water but closer to the street. Here you'll have a very Japanese breakfast. Some of the waits are long outside the most popular stalls, but I am not so picky. I ate at the fish market twice and chose shorter lines. The first day, I had sashimi served over a bowl of rice. The second day I had a trey of sushi. While both were good, I'd recommend the sushi place as the better option. Located in building 6, it was called Ya Ma Za Ki. Granted, the pictographs are what appear above doorways, so look at my pictures to figure out how to match up the Japanese characters and find the appropriate stall.

After you have had your fill of fish, walk through the aisles of vendors and perhaps pick up a ceramic dish to take home. (I bought two!) Then go to a quieter place for your next adventure, Hama Rikyu Teien, a traditional Japanese garden that is only a short walk away. Close

From journal Terrific Tokyo

Nice Lunch and Great Feel for the City

by wasa girl

Ashburn, Virginia

July 7, 2008

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Best of IgoUgo I cannot comment on the early morning experience that all the guide books say you must try, since getting up that early was not in my plan. I can say that by lunch time the area was still humming and worth the few blocks walk from the Tsukijishijo ...Read more

From journal Two Weeks in Japan

Tsukiji Fish Market

by TLM2008

Toronto, Ontario

January 12, 2008

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Best of IgoUgo You've landed in Japan, perhaps after a long journey, such as the 13 hour flight from Toronto to Tokyo and you find yourself annoyingly, irritatingly, wide awake at 4:00 a.m. due to jet lag. What's that sound? It's opportunity knocking. The early ...Read more You've landed in Japan, perhaps after a long journey, such as the 13 hour flight from Toronto to Tokyo and you find yourself annoyingly, irritatingly, wide awake at 4:00 a.m. due to jet lag. What's that sound? It's opportunity knocking. The early rising you've experienced is the perfect time to take advantage of witnessing one of Tokyo's famous and interesting sights the Tsukiji fish market.

After navigating our first subway ride through Tokyo, we arrived at the Tsukiji station stop to find our way to the market. This is the site where all the fresh catch is available for purchase. Although it's listed in most guidebooks and websites catering to foreign tourists, it is far from a tourist attraction: it is a real life, working hub of activity. At first I thought we would be killed by the numerous buzzing scooters and mini-flatbed transport vehicles, not to mention all the men pushing carts and all the bicycles..wow! My sense is that the workers at the market are well-accustomed to seeing tourists wander the stalls but they go about their business and do not cater to us foreigners wandering aimlessly - in other words, watch out or you could end up bonked on the head by a fish being carried past you!

Once we got our bearings it was well worth the trip. It was fun and interesting to see all the fresh fish for sale in the market. Giant tuna, eels, squids, gorgeous purple octopii and more. It was a photography enthusiast's dream.

The fish is so fresh that it doesn't even really smell - which is a feature you will welcome since you likely will not have had breakfast at the time of your visit. You absolutely must visit early (pre-7:00 a.m.) - if you arrive by 5:30 a.m. you can see the giant tuna being auctioned. I'm sorry to say we missed the auction and probably arrived around 6:00 a.m. but there were still many great sights to see.

Oh, and furthermore, watch out for the giant buckets of fish water that are getting sloshed about! Close

From journal Tokyo-a-go-go!

Tsukiji Fish Market

by viv viv

Los Angeles, California

December 8, 2006

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If you're a sushi/sashimi lover, this is the one place you cannot miss. They have the freshest fish in the world made into sushi and sashimi at low price! Delicious and cheap, what can be better! They do not let tourists go inside the fish market to ...Read more

From journal Japan Trip

Tsukiji Fish Market

by AgedToPerfection

Irvine, California

October 27, 2006

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Best of IgoUgo “We have to get up at what hour?” In order to witness the truly marvelous and grotesque, one must arrive at the Tsukiji Fish Market by 6am to see eels writhing on the floor and vendors haggling over huge tuna. Still, we didn’t make it out to Tsukiji ...Read more “We have to get up at what hour?” In order to witness the truly marvelous and grotesque, one must arrive at the Tsukiji Fish Market by 6am to see eels writhing on the floor and vendors haggling over huge tuna. Still, we didn’t make it out to Tsukiji until about 7:30am or so. By that time, much of the action had passed but we still managed to gawk at a few spectacles.

We meandered around the open air market and peered in the various stalls selling seafood, both familiar and unfamiliar parts. One vendor had bags of cuttlefish (a savory snack for those of us who enjoy the chewy treat), another sold sashimi, raw fish meat. But the most interesting vendor did not pay any attention to us as he carved slabs of fresh tuna from a huge carcass. The tuna’s head alone was larger than my office desk. As the vendor worked diligently, he drew long puffs off of his dangling cigarette. Not the most sanitary conditions I’ve ever seen but I figured that after he cut the meat, he would wash it off and prepare it for sale.

My husband informed me that the fishing boats often travel as far as off the coast of California, outside US jurisdiction, and return to Tokyo with their catch. Restaurateurs gathered in the mornings to participate in auctions for the best fish. The fishermen would later export the leftovers to other countries. Open air market stalls and larger covered buildings comprise the fish market. Auctions occur inside the covered buildings.

We also found restaurant supplies and fake Japanese display food in Tsukiji. My husband, deprived from fruit and vegetables for over a week, zeroed in on a fruit vendor who sold apricots for US$5 a piece. As he reached for his wallet, I swatted my husband’s hands and reminded him that at home, we could walk out of the grocery store with two bags full of apricots for $5. He had to suck it up and deal with two more days of deprivation.

Get to Tsukiji early. Don’t worry about making reservations at a sushi restaurant, just pick one that tickles your fancy and try it. We wove through the alleys until we found a clean, small sushi restaurant. Sushi breakfast at 8am is perfectly acceptable and you shouldn’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Where else will you be able to find anything fresher? Close

From journal So, What Else is in Tokyo Besides Disneyland?

The Very Beginning of Sushi at Tsukiji Fish Market

by gwenamon

Toronto, Ontario

November 22, 2005

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Best of IgoUgo Trying to hurry to arrive at the market early on a Saturday morning was a challenge for the two of us. But the pace was even more hectic at the market, which we got to around 7am (a Saturday-morning miracle!). What a mad, frantic, vivid place!For ...Read more Trying to hurry to arrive at the market early on a Saturday morning was a challenge for the two of us. But the pace was even more hectic at the market, which we got to around 7am (a Saturday-morning miracle!). What a mad, frantic, vivid place!

For every main sloshy aisle we crossed, we had to look both ways. Teeming throngs of fish mongers were pulling or pushing carts, or driving these tiny motorized trucks called ta-rays, all of them laden with fish of some sort. Dozens of times we were almost run over. We got beeped at and physically moved between shoulder-high stacks of seafood...some of it still flailing.

But amongst all of the chaos of needing to prepare for the wholesalers--who come around 9 a.m.--the mongers would still pause. Some even seemed to appreciate our incredulity. A few knowingly slowed down so I could take a shot. One man even posed the massive tuna carcass he was hacking (with the longest blade I’ve ever seen).

It was pretty gory, but still visually stunning. There were amazing colours. The deepest red squid in white containers. Crackled silver fish, white iced in blue boxes. And the mongers’ faces were so expressive. They had this incredible calmness about them, in the din of it all.

Supposedly, the market takes up 56 acres. Every day except Sunday, 2300 tonnes of fish end up there. Over 400 types of seafood are prepared for sale, leaving me to wonder how there can be anything left in the sea if THAT many fish come ONLY to Tokyo. I started feeling really bad for them--such beautiful creatures--after I got adjusted to the visual onslaught. Admittedly, it didn’t stop either of us from having an unbelievably fresh sushi breakfast.

Another quick fact – 60,000 people pass through the market each day. We pushed through a good chunk of them later on to get Colin’s delicious ramen lunch. He ate it at the standing counter, but almost everything around had been made into a table. The truck parked behind us on the street had an open back, packed with buckets. Even they had been covered with wood pieces for noodle-bowl resting. For us, it was perfect crowd-watching. Close

From journal Two Months in Japan

Tsukiji Fish Market

by Juulia

Cork, Finland

July 3, 2003

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Best of IgoUgo The best time to go to Tsukiji is in the early hours of the morning, around 6am or even earlier, since this is when the activity starts and all the fresh fish comes in. There are lots of stout little fishmongers smiling at you, chopping up and ...Read more

From journal Tokyo in the winter

Tsukiji fish market

by Sweet Willie

Des Plaines, Illinois

February 10, 2003

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We awoke at 5:30am and took the subway to Tsukiji station. We followed the men in rubber boots into the Tsukiji fish market, one of the largest in the world. The lift drivers were flying around and will not stop if you get in the way (got my shorts ...Read more

From journal Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima Island, & Mt. Fu

Tsukiji Fish Market

by billmoy

Chicago, Illinois

August 23, 2002

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Best of IgoUgo If you can drag yourself out of bed early enough, venture out to the Tsukiji Central Wholesale Fish Market for a unique local experience in the middle of Tokyo. The fish auction starts at 5AM for seafood wholesalers, and restaurant owners get in ...Read more

From journal Bill in Japan - modern TOKYO

Tsukiji Market

by Quan

Seattle, Washington

July 11, 2001

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Best of IgoUgo Guidebook after guidebook rates the Tsukiji experience as one of the highlights of any visit to Tokyo, and I agree wholeheartedly. To see the best of Tsukiji, it is important to get to the market by 6am at the latest. I thought this sounded ...Read more

From journal Tokyo on a Budget

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