Tsukiji Fish Market - Tokyo

When you arrive in Tokyo from the US you are probably going to be awake early because there is fifteen hours time difference from Houston. I was awake at 3 AM so I had no problem leaving for the Tuna Auction at 5 AM. This time of year it is around 40 degrees in the morning, and I think cold weather is ideal for a fish market visit. My hosts, Toru Iijima and Kenji Ueda, took myself, Andy, and Bob to the market. Immediately you knew you were at a fish market by the smell of fish about a block from the market. Not a bad smell, just fishy. The first thing to note is that there are large trucks, forklifts, and mule size trucks, and they share the pavement with you, and they are in a hurry. Every step could be your last step as they whiz by hauling fish and ice, or just empty. So watch out!

You walk through the fish market with every kind of fish, eel, prawn, and shellfish imaginable. Whole fish, fillets, live fish. Blowfish, tuna, mackerel, squid, octopus, etc. are on display. After you make your way through the commotion, you enter a large refrigerated warehouse and the visitor area with large "No Smoking" signs in Japanese and "No flash" handheld signs in English and Japanese. There are hundreds of tuna laid out for inspection - all frozen and with a plug of meat that shows color and texture. Each tuna is labeled with weight in kilograms and place caught. Toru identified two side by side, one from Peru and one from Sydney. One 360 KG tuna was from Tahiti. There were larger tuna at the other end of the building that must have weighed double that amount or more.

The auction begins with a ringing of the bell and bidders wear caps with bidding cards. Like auctions all over each bidder has his own way of making a bid whether it be a touch to a nose or ear, or a half wave. The auctioneer is quite enthusiastic and expends quite a bit of energy. I do not know the prices paid but you can buy a pound of tuna filet for about $10 in the market. Some tuna is more expensive, with the best being the Oma area of northern Japan where Blue Fin Tuna live in the best water.

Over fishing has hurt tuna populations and Oma catches may only be 2 or 3 tuna per day for 30 to 40 boats. Recently a record price was paid for a tuna caught north of Japan's main island of Honshu. The 232 KG tuna went for 16.28 million yen or about $175,000.