I've been to Tsukiji a number of times, including the morning after Fukushima. Most recently I was there in September. They're glossing over the recent rules that tourists aren't allowed in the inner market before 10am, largely after business is done for the day.
Sushi Dai is good but not worth standing in line for an hour. There are dozens of restaurants along Shin Ohashi Dori with local specialities and no tourists. For my money, I'd rather get a lunch reservation at Kyubey or Sushi Iwa than stand in line forever to get squeezed (literally) into Sushi Dai or Daiwa Sushi. There's a great coffee place a couple blocks away called Turret Coffee, ironically tucked behind a Starbucks.
And please, don't bring a suitcase. I honestly cannot believe the throngs of tourists I saw last time bringing in full-size roller suitcases. The market was not built as a tourist attraction—watch where you're going, accept that your shoes will get dirty and don't bring bags. Or touch the fish.
The market is worth visiting, especially if you're coming from the US, meaning the jet lag will have you wide awake at 3am your first morning. Embrace it and head on over.
I absolutely hate standing in line for anything, but I waited for Sushi Dai.
It's a fun cultural experience when you compare it to the throngs of folks waiting for a random sunday brunch in SF or NYC, and the omakase menu was utterly outstanding.
I've also had the great fortune of securing a reservation at Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi Hills (the son of "Jiro Dreams of Sushi"). The meal was extraordinary, but the formality of being watched during every bite (and scolded for holding my chopsticks at a angle instead of perfectly horizontal) meant that Sushi Dai was actually a more enjoyable experience even with the wait.
Thank you so much for posting! Is type A (personality) rare/suppressed in Japan? Was whale meat on sale? (I know a whale is not a fish) I hear it tastes oily. (type A jedi shinichi)
Went there 10 years ago, loved the little (what I assume) were homemade vehicles they'd build for carrying stuff through the narrow alleys between stalls. I did actually see a Tuna auction and what struck me was the cadence of the auctioneer, it was identical to the auctioneers at sheep/cattle auctions I went to with my dad in the UK when I was a child. I wondered if that particular cadence is something that comes naturally or spread somehow.
I still remember our guide, who was a retired man who'd previously worked in the market and whom we found on Voyagin) walking us past the line at Sushi Dai. He swept his index finger from the tail of the ponderously long queue all the way to the door, said "See? No Japanese person. Sushi Dai very good, but no Japanese person eat there."
He then walked us a block away to a place he recommended, which had exactly two open seats and very good sushi. It also offered us the guilty pleasure of being the only white people in the place. :)
I've been to several of the joints on that small alley housing both Sushi Dai and Daiwa over the years. The experience is very different from what you get at a very formal and oldschool place like Sushi Iwa [1], especially if you can chat up the chefs (which imo is an essential part of going to a sushi joint).
Personally I'd be okay with waiting 1 hour for Sushi Dai, but that's way below average wait time. The standard wait time is about 4 hours these days. Daiwa is about 45 minutes iirc. Regardless, it's 90% foreign tourists these days anyways, and it's a win-win scenario for the tourists and the restaurants imo. It's like a Velben good -- the longer the wait the more memorable the experience? :P
Agreed that there are plenty of great random places to eat in the outer market. Might be hard for the average visitor to glean which one to visit though.
[1] do they still charge a flat 20,000 JPY for dinner regardless of how much or little you eat?
> They're glossing over the recent rules that tourists aren't allowed in the inner market before 10am, largely after business is done for the day.
>...
>The market is worth visiting, especially if you're coming from the US, meaning the jet lag will have you wide awake at 3am your first morning. Embrace it and head on over.
But what's the point if you can't visit the inner market? Is there a big difference between the inner and outer market?
The inner market is the wholesale market, where chefs and such are buying fish. The outer market is more varied. Dry goods, kitchen supply, lots of restaurants and now a fair number of stores selling tourist kitsch.
As a tourist I actually wouldn't bother getting to the market before 5am. Skip the tuna auction (there are a million videos on YouTube). The subways start running at 5, so catch one then and start with an early bite. Lots of places selling onigiri, find one. If you need caffeine, find a vending machine selling canned hot or cold coffee (often with Tommy Lee Jones staring at you) or try ordering from one of the small coffee shops in the market.
Wander the outer market—there are some interesting stores there. Head outside the market to Shin Ohashi Dori and find a food stall for breakfast. Depending on how much time you've killed, the inner market may be open or you can take a stroll over to Hama Rikyu Kien, a large garden next to the market. Head back after 10 and see the inner market. At this point it's mostly people cleaning up or taking a rest. There's still some business but it's mostly done for the day.
I think Hama Rikyu is better appreciated at the end of the experience, once you're tired enough and the little tea room is open. There is something indescribable about drinking tea in slow movements, looking out on the garden (or the bay) from the tatami room, resting your tired limbs, in a very quiet setting after several hours spent in crowded and noisy surroundings.
I went there almost 10 years ago (just me and wife, no kids) and it was an early highlight of my first trip to Japan. HRK itself is not the best garden, the tearoom is not the best tearoom, the tea is not the best tea... but after the hustle and bustle of Tsukiji, the HRK combo can be otherworldly.
Did you know that there is 2 tons of contaminated fish buried at the corner of the Tsukiji Fish Market?
The meanwhile perhaps forgotten incident happened in 1954, when a boat was in the fallout zone from the test of the Bikini Atoll.
As a result of the incident in total 460 ton contaminated fish was buried countrywide, spreading panic.
I went to Daiwa for the second time last September. The restaurant seemed to have its visitor flow worked out — I was seated after maybe 20 minutes of queuing, my omakase set was served up and finished in around 15 minutes, and I was sent out the door as soon as I was done.
It felt very much like I was on a conveyor belt myself.
What strange timing. I just had breakfast there (no idea what restaurant--just walked into the first one I could find that had a VISA sign out front). Of course after jet lag woke me up at 4 am...
Just visited Tsukiji inner market a few weeks ago. They use a huge amount of ice and styrofoam to keep the fish cold. What really blew my mind is the on-site styrofoam recycling center. Not only are they using high-value land for recycling, but also saving energy and pollution by not transporting material away. Very progressive and forward thinking.
On the other hand, the whale jerky in the outer market just made me sad.
Good point. We changed the title above to the article's subtitle.
The submitted title was "How to Visit Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo Before It Closes". Submitters: please don't rewrite titles unless they are misleading or linkbait (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html). Rewriting to be more misleading is particularly bad.
I hope they shut down Tsukiji and settle this as soon as possible. Most people here are sickened by this endless political drama, which has very little to do with their daily life yet took so much news coverage and debating.
Necessary context for the above: Tsukiji is old, decrepit, and absurdly located in the middle of central Tokyo -- it's easy walking distance to Ginza. For decades now, they've been planning a move to a larger site on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, which is otherwise great but happens to be contaminated with dioxin. They've spent years cleaning it up, and the move was supposed to happen for realz last year, but was scuttled at the last minute because Tokyo got a new governor who realised that a) the cleanup hadn't actually been done and b) they had just forged the test results proclaiming it clean.
Thank you. I'd also point out that Tsukiji as a market is somewhat dysfunctional now and the majority of fish in Japan is already traded without using the central markets. Actually, they started a tourism campaign because of their slumping sales. It somehow worked, which I guess mainly due to the snobbery and pomposity surrounding the pricey sushi among some domestic/foreign tourists. But I'd like to see a real working market, efficient and representative of the needs of real people.
I had assumed this article was going to be about how depletion of fish stocks and irresponsible fishing in general was going to change the Japanese diet. However, all we got was local political drama.
To see the tuna auction, try to have someone who's seen it guide you. You have to get there ridiculously early, maybe 3am or even earlier...just so you know.
Sushi Dai is good but not worth standing in line for an hour. There are dozens of restaurants along Shin Ohashi Dori with local specialities and no tourists. For my money, I'd rather get a lunch reservation at Kyubey or Sushi Iwa than stand in line forever to get squeezed (literally) into Sushi Dai or Daiwa Sushi. There's a great coffee place a couple blocks away called Turret Coffee, ironically tucked behind a Starbucks.
And please, don't bring a suitcase. I honestly cannot believe the throngs of tourists I saw last time bringing in full-size roller suitcases. The market was not built as a tourist attraction—watch where you're going, accept that your shoes will get dirty and don't bring bags. Or touch the fish.
The market is worth visiting, especially if you're coming from the US, meaning the jet lag will have you wide awake at 3am your first morning. Embrace it and head on over.