Tsukiji Fish Market (築地市場) Tokyo

One of the very first place we visited was the Tsukiji Fish Market. We reached there around 8am Tokyo time, and needless to say, did not manage to watch the famous Tuna Auction which usually ends by 6:30am. But we weren't there for the auction, we were there more for the food! In fact, I think we never even made it into the main market area. We were quite content being happily lost at the outer food market :)

Tsukiji is a wonderful place to kick start your exploration in Japan. You get the market atmosphere that gets you excited, sights of stalls after stalls of vendors selling everything from souvenirs (T-shirts/magnets/postcards/magnets etc), to fresh food (fish/vegetables/meat etc), to cook food (bento sets/ramen/tempura/sashimi/sushi etc), to kitchen ware (wok/chopsticks/sushi ingredients etc).

One of the experience of being in Tsukiji, is to queue up outside a hole-in-a-wall sushi shop to eat fresh sushi. You can find the shops in one of the alley closer to the fish market. You can't miss it as there will be countless people queue outside each shops (it's a whole roll of hole-in-a-wall shops there). They are call hole-in-a-wall because each shop is really really small, seating maybe just 12 people each time. The menu's are placed outside, and like a Singapore Yong-Tauhu shop, you make a queue first to place your order, and then go to another queue to wait for available place to seat inside the shop. Photo here shows one of the shop we visited. I ordered set #R as I love minced tuna, salmon roe, and tuna (Y$1200); and my dad and hubby had the set #P which contains sea urchin (ウニ), salmon, and tuna (Y$1400) which I totally hate. The sets are served with hot rice, pickles, miso soup, and tea. Total cost for 3 person for a meal here Y$4000 (S$60).


Directions:
From Shinjuku Station, take the Oedo Subway Line to Tsukijishijo Station. The one way trip takes 20 minutes, and cost Y$260. Market is above the station. Once you come up to street level, turn right and walk towards the crowd.

Ref:
Tsukiji Fish Market
Sea Urchin ウニ
Sashimi 刺身