So, I grabbed the first train out of the station, and without too much effort and just 1 rail change I was at Tsukiji station. From there I was not certain of where to go, so I opted to just follow the few people who were up and were "walking with purpose." My plan worked as I was at the market by 5:30. Now, the real event, and reason to be so early is the Tuna Auction. Turns out a few years ago there was a big issue with tourists and the auction became closed to them. Now, tourists are allowed, but only the first 140 people each morning to show can get it. So, as I wandered through the rows upon rows of vendors, mostly crushing ice, cleaning fish, making labels, etc... I eventually found the building (note... I didn't know all the stuff so exactly before all this). There I was met by a security gourd who, after confirming I was a visitor, pointed me in the direction of 'information'. I worked my way in that direction, periodically asking guards, and eventually arrived. There I was given a ticket, a map, and a BRIGHT green vest to mark me tourist. I joined a group and at 6 we were taken to the auction building.
There we were let in the center and stood in a narrow path down the center that was roped off. We were given strict instructions of no cash! Anyway, this was a bit before the auction started. There were literally hundreds of tunas frozen and displayed on racks on the floor. HUNDREDS. And each one was bigger than a full grown man. They were HUGE. They all also had their chest cavities hollowed out and cleaned, and the tails where chopped at the base of the fin, and sliced just above. The vendors used these bits of information, and small picks to hit the tunas, to determine their quality (I guess...).
Anyway, then the auction started by having close to a dozen people ringing bells. Then it became apparent that the tunas were actually in 4 or 5 columns, and at the head of each was a worker prepping to begin the auction. Then all at once they began yelling and writing, selling fish faster than I've ever seen fish sold. I had trouble following... as it was in Japanese, but it seemed like there was remarkably little bidding. It looked more so like he counted down until someone raised a hand? But that seems less auction-like to me. Who's to say though. Before long, all the tuna had been sold and were being slid onto flatbeds and out the door. It was pretty crazy and a lot of fun.
I then left the auction room and headed over towards the food/restaurant area. Very briefly, there were a bunch of random cool things I saw while I'd tried to find the auction. My favorite was the guy making crushed ice. He loaded cubic feet of ice on a belt, that took them into something that launched them up into a grinder, and after a hideous mashing noise, a flood of crushed ice came rushing out into a collection bin. I also saw dozens of vendors cleaving, scaling and slicing fish. More opening shellfish and displaying them. Many placing labels on all there stuff. In terms of size... if Sydney truly has the second largest fish market, then I choose to edit the claim. Tokyo has the top 5 largest fish markets and they are all in the same square. Then... maybe Sydney. The place was huge! Lastly, walking from the auction house to the restaurants, I passed literally a mountain of Styrofoam boxes. The sheer number was intimidating.
Anyway, at this point I called Margaret who had arrived with some friends she's made, and figured out which shop they were in. There, we had... a small sushi fix, and I had a simple tuna roll. I thought it the default and an appropriate starting point. That said, the tuna just tasted so fresh... so good... and it paled to what I had later.
Margaret and some other people then tried to find another place for a bowl of sushi or sushi to split and then headed out (I think). I joined with 3 Australians (Kiwis) and went into the waiting line at Sushi Dai. Apparently, this is THE place to have the best sushi in the entire market. Apparently, a few hours later the waiting line gets up to 3 hours. Luckily we only waited 1 to 1 and a half... anyway, we were lucky as the drizzle started just as we got under a tarp. But, our order was taken while we were still outside, and all 4 of us got the chief's suggestion. It consisted of green tea, miss soup, an egg cake, 1 roll, 10 sushi pieces (of the chief's choice) and 1 of anything we wanted.
When we got in the soup and tea were enough to make us happy as it warmed us completely. The place was great though. About 12 seats, all at the bar with 3 chiefs, and on a lower shelf we had our drinks, chopsticks and soy sauce Owe were asked about wasabi and when we said yet they just made it part of the sushi). On an upper shelf the sushi and ginger was placed directly. The soup was great, including more veggies than I'm used to and some fish. We quickly got the egg cake, which was good, but a bit reminiscent of scrambled eggs... but still fine. Then came the sushi...
First was the fatty tuna. It was... so good. Arguably the best we had. And it was a beautiful pink with white lines all over it, making it reminiscent of pink marble stones. Best tuna EVER. Then was sea bass, which was my personal favorite. Partly because while the tuna may have been the best, I thought the sea bass gave me a nice balance between unique and delicious. Next was Snapper, which was also great, but I have fewer specific comments for it. After that we had sea urchin, which was very unique. It was very soft and wrapped in seaweed. It was good and very creamy with an interesting flavor. Then we had Spanish Mackerel. It was a very lovely slice of fish and it too was good (a common theme). We were then given shellfish. I've no idea if it was clam or otherwise, but it was not nearly as tough and chewed as I'd expected. It was also still alive... but very tasty. Next we were given Horse Mackerel. This had to have been the single most beautiful piece of food I have ever received. It wasn't one of my favorite tastes of the day... but hands down the prettiest. Baby shrimp was next. It was actually a lot of them atop the rice mound. They are small and white though and look a lot like the rice. I thought they were the worst sushi we had, just not having a lot of taste or much character. Next was a tuna and shellfish roll. It was fine, but unexciting. Our second to last was lean tuna, and unlike our first piece was a lovely dark red. It was good... less flavorful, but so smooth to eat. The last of our preset menu was sea eel. It was ok, but eel sushi has never been one of my favorites.
This leads me to our pick. We asked our chief for his suggestion, and he opted for something that took quite a leap of faith to eat. Both he and the chief next to him advertised the "sperm sacs of cod fish". It is apparently also seasonal. So all four of us got it. And it looked a bit like white sea urchin, again wrapped in seaweed. The hardest part about eating it was actually just that it was a very large bite. That said, it was better than I ever would have expected. Not one of my days favorite, but it was good, and with a very odd texture. That concluded our order, but we each then ordered one more fish sushi for the road. The 3 Aussies all got the fatty tuna but I had the sea bass again. Hands down... the best sushi I have ever eaten!
So we left, the shop and wandered through the isles of the market for a little bit. Afterwards headed back to the subway where we went separate ways. Getting back to the hostel I learned that Margaret headed out to Nikko... Anyway, I took a short rest, working with some emails and having some coffee. I then took a walk through a new part of the city and headed to the Imperial Palace. I believe it is actually just the Imperial Palace Gardens, as I saw no palace. I think it might actually just be gardens now and used to be the palace. Anyway, the walk got me there at 3 and I had an hour to explore it, which was fine, as they close it at 4.
In short, the whole complex is surrounded by a moat and thick stone walls. Inside, the walls continue to shape the paths and ramps leading to different parts of the garden. My favorite site was the Tenshudai Doujon Base. Standing on the highest point of the garden an enormous stone square rose even higher and gave quite a view. Turns out this was the standing site of the previous Doujon... details are a bit hazy... I was tired... but the view was great. I then worked my way through the gardens to the other side and saw the Mt. Fuji View Keep. Sadly we weren't allowed very close, but it was still intact and pretty.
After that I killed my last few minutes or so wandering the gardens and the trees. I headed out of the gardens and headed to Shibuya. My last site of the day. The train ride was easy, and walking out of the station into Hachiko-Mae square is impressive. Its similar to walking into time square, both in size, brightness and number of people. I crossed the street to a Starbucks (this time it was the recommended vantage point as it has a few floors with good views). For kicks I got the last seasonal sakura drink and another scone. Anyway, from above you could watch the square go from empty to Absurdly packed in seconds. It was like dropping a bit of food into a MASS of hungers ants. I proceeded to sit here and people watch for a little over an hour as rush hour increased and it became more impassive. I now plan to go have a small bowl of some food and head to bed. So, with that, I take 1 last view of one of the most crowded streets I've ever witnessed and head out.
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