Tsukiji fish market Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, commonly known as the Tsukiji fish market (Japanese: 築地魚市場, Tsukiji sakana shi-jō) is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market, and one of the biggest markets of any kind in the world.
The market is located in Tsukiji in Tokyo, and is a major tourist attraction, especially for visitors with jet lag who have arrived from Narita International Airport; the best times to visit are between 5:00AM and 9:00AM.
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2 Economics 3 Operations 4 History 5 External links 6 Further reading |
Location
The Tsukiji fish market is located near the Tsukiji shi-jou Station on the Oedo subway line and Tsukiji Station on the Hibiya subway line. The market consists of two parts. There is an inner market where the auctions and most of the processing of the fish takes place, along with a large number of seafood shops. The outer market has many different shops selling Japanese kitchen tools and groceries, and restaurants, especially sushi restaurants. Most of the shops in the outer market close at noon.
Economics
The market handles more than 400 different types of seafood from tiny sardines to 300kg tuna, from cheap seaweed to the most expensive caviar. Overall, more than 700,000 tons of seafood are handled every year at the three seafood markets in Tokyo, with a total value in excess of 600 billion yen (approximately 6 billion US dollar). Tsukiji alone handles over 2000 tons of seafood per day.
Operations
in use at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo]]
The market opens every morning except Sundays and holidays at 3:00 AM with the arrival of the products by ship, truck and plane from all over the world. Particularly impressive is the unloading of tons of frozen tuna. The wholesalers then estimate the value and prepare the incoming products for the auctions. The buyers also inspect the fish to estimate which fish they would like to bid for and at which price. The auctions start around 5:00 AM and can be visited by the public, but bidding is usually done by registered bidders only. Most of these bidders are professionals working for restaurants, food processing companies, and large retailers.
The auctions usually end around 7:00AM. Afterwards, the purchased fish is either loaded onto trucks to be shipped to the next destination, or on small carts and moved to the many shops located inside of the market. There the shop owners cut and prepare the products for retail. In case of large fishes as for example Tuna, large tools are needed, and frozen tuna is often cut like logs with a large band saw, and unfrozen Tuna is cut using extremely long knives called Oroshi hocho and Hancho hocho.
The market is most busy between 8:00 and 10:AM, and the activity declines significantly afterwards. Many shops start to close around 11:00AM, and the market closes for cleaning around 1:00PM.
During the entire time the hygiene of the market is supervised to enforce the Food Hygiene Law in Japan.
History
The first market in Tokyo was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Edo period to provide food for Edo castle (nowadays Tokyo). Tokugawa Ieyasu invited fishermen from Tsukudajima, Osaka to Edo in order to provide fish for the castle. Fish not bought by the castle was sold near the Nihonbashi bridge at a market called uogashi.
A Central Wholesale Market Law was established in March 1923 after the rice riots of August 1918 during the Taisho period. The Great Kanto earthquake on September 1, 1923, 11:58AM devastated many of the small shops in Tokyo. Subsequently the construction of the central wholesale markets was accelerated, and three markets in Tsukiji, Kanda and Koto began operating in 1935, followed by more markets in Ebara, Toshima, Adachi, and Shokuniku. More markets were opened after World War II.
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Further reading
Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World, Theodore C. Bestor, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2004