Katie and I got up early to head to the Tsukiji Fish Market. We had considered getting there at 3:30 am to line up for the tuna auction, but decided against it and instead headed out around 7. When we arrived, there was a sign along the opening walkway with cartoon characters acting out Do's & Don'ts with English writing, which I, of course, forgot to capture on film. It reminded visitors that the market is NOT a tourist destination, but a real, working market, and requested that we stay out of the workers' way. My kinda place.
The food and goods stalls near the entrance were a bit busy selling everything from Wellingtons to Red Viper Ointment. We looked around at some of the shops, admiring the knives and cookbooks and food, but Katie really wanted to see the fish and other seafood. First, though, we needed to eat, so we got in line at a place called Sushi Bun. We had to order before we got inside, but the hostess gave us a nice hot cup of roasted tea while we were still in line, which really made me feel good off the bat. After two rounds of people ate, we were in.
The food stall (I'm not entirely sure what else to call it) sat about 8-9 people at a time, around a long but narrow L-shaped counter in front of the sushi chefs. As we sat, we were given hot green tea and the beginning of our food sets. I had ordered the C set (the big one), while Katie got the B set. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but there were multiple rounds of food. First, I was given a cold, sweet omelet piece, which was interesting; I'd never had a chilled omelet before. After that it was round after round of sushi. All of the fish, eel, octopus, and urchin pieces had wasabi already placed between the rice and fish, which I was not expecting, but really enjoyed! Wasabi first thing in the morning: delicious. We also had a few rolled pieces, and a couple things I didn't recognize. I got a few more pieces than Katie did, including a creamy tuna roll which was amazing. By the time we were done, we were both fairly full, and ready to see the rest of the market.
To say this place was large would be an understatement. Even huge doesn't quite do it; this place was MASSIVE. There were hundreds of stations where people were selling fresh fish, shrimp, crabs, mussels, oysters, octopus, squid, tuna, and the list just kept going. Many of them were still alive, or were being killed, gutted, and cleaned by the shop workers right in front of us. I was especially excited to watch a man break down a fish; I'd never actually seen that live before. It was really cool. We walked around for a while, checking out the variety and the sheer amount of food available for purchase. If I ever live in Tokyo, I'm getting my fish there every day.
After the market, we stopped by a pastry shop for snacks, then returned to the hotel, heading to the gardens in the back. (Pretty neat, actually!) We walked around for a bit, bumping into a wedding party heading out for their pictures as we made our way back inside. We checked out of the hotel and headed over to Sendagi station to meet Katie's law school friend Jonathan Brooks. We stopped by his place to drop off our bags, met his girlfriend Yukari, and then we all headed to the market to pick up some items for a going-away hanami in the park. At the market, I learned more about Japanese craft beer, picking up a few bottles. I also learned you can drink in public here, and asked Jon a bunch of questions about Japanese whisky. We gathered some food, hit the metro, and walked in the largest crowd of which I've been a part to the park. We found the group in a prime viewing spot, and sat down to hang out. One of the group, Doug, had brought a few toys to play with, including two different types of wooden helicopters, and a kendama. When he busted out the kendama, both Yukari and I got really excited, trying different tricks and showing off our skills. She was surprised that I'd seen one before, let alone have one at home! Anyway, Katie and I had a good time, and shoved off for dinner after a couple hours.
We found a ramen place at the Omote-sando Hills mall, which reminded Katie of Westfield in their offerings. (They had an American Eagle.) Dinner was pretty good, although there was an American guy sitting down a couple tables from us who kept singing whenever American songs came on. Who sings "Sailing" at dinner? Like, the whole song? "And soon I will be free" and everything? You're on a date, dude.
After dinner, we picked up more snacks (I hope by now you've gotten the theme; just assume I'm always picking up snacks) and headed back to Jon's flat. We weren't sure if he would be home, but all the lights were on, so we assumed so. He was getting ready for a big date, and tried to convince us to come out last night around bar time to meet the hanami group for some continued celebrations. Katie and I declined, realizing if we were out past midnight, we'd have to take a taxi back to the flat, and would have no way of doing so. After Jon left, we went right to bed. Two full days in Japan complete!
Today, we're heading to Kyoto via shinkansen (bullet train) in a couple hours. I'm excited to see some of the countryside and to check out another city! I'm also excited to get some reading done. Tonight, if we're lucky, we're going sock-shopping (thanks to Kyra for the suggestion)!
-B
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