Tokyo fish and rail

Fish market

The morning of the day we left Tokyo we headed to theTsukiji fish market, the largest wholesale fish market in the world selling more that 400 types of seafood.

Let me take you there, walking through this warehouse is aworld in unto itself. The cobble stoneground is covered in water and is drained by what must be an elaborate networkof pipes. The smell of fresh seafood fills the cool air accompanied by the sounds ofchopping, water splashing and running, people bartering, and seafood beingtossed about. All this energy immerses you in a complex and intricate web of commerce. As youwalk, the tight aisles seem to continue into infinity and one is easily turned around. To your right and leftare trays, boxes and tubs stacked waist high with every type of seafoodimaginable and many that are not even imaginable. Merchants in rubber apronsand boots chop fish with enormous blades the size of swords on foot thickwooden blocks. Their skill is unlike anything you have seen, with precisionthey slice up live fish as they flop around.

Sea Cucumber

Tunais the big fish here. In the morning, six days a week, the market has thelargest sale of tuna in the world selling, the market wouldprobably not exist without it. A single Tuna, the "king of sushi", sells anywhere between 2,000 and 20,000 USD depending on size, season and fat content. The highest recorded price for a tunas is over 700,000 USD. Tuna is the most popular fish here in Japan and isserved in a variety of ways including sushi and sashimi. And as you mightimagine there are various cuts and quality of tuna.

Yellow Fin Tuna

Cutting up tuna that has been flash frozen on the boat

There is a regular cut of tuna called maguro and there is a premium cut of fatty tuna, called toro, the highest priced and most desired. In the states one would ask the restaurant if they have toro and if they do the price is usually “market price” or around 10 to 20 USD for two sushi pieces (from our experience). Walking the aisles Darin spots a tuna vender selling small amounts of tuna both maguro and toro, so we head over. He is selling the cuts that were not big enough to sell to restaurants or stores, and for 2,000 yen or about 24 USD there is a package with two slabs of toro. “Lets get it” says Darin. With that the guy cut it up into 18 pieces of sashimi. He wrapped it nicely in green paper, with some tooth picks, wasabi, and soy sauce. We then pick up some sake and rice at a nearby market on our way to Hama Rikyu Garden in Shiodome. Where we sat on a bench admiring the cherry blossoms, toro melting in our mouths, and sake washing it down. The toro was the best we have ever had. A perfect hanami.

Having been going to Washington, DC for the last 4 years, I have surprisingly missed the peak of Cherry Blossom season. I have seen a cherry blossom in bloom and it was gorgeous. But to be able to see the entire basin surrounded by cherry blossoms would have been cool to see. So having this tour through Asia, I was hoping that perhaps we might be able to make it to Japan when the country is awash in pink and white blossoms. But Japan was supposed to be the end of the trip and with us leaving in mid-March, it was unlikely. Then, a couple of weeks before we left for the Philippines with tickets already purchased, I propose to Darin to change our plans and go to Japan right after the Philippines so that we can see the cherry blossoms. So after 4 years of always missing DC's cherry blossoms, we hit sakura gold and arrive in Japan at the peak of the season. Tokyo's peak season started the day after we arrived and Kyoto will be at the end of theirs when we get there.

Subway and Shinkansen

The Tokyo metro is known for its efficiency, timeliness andaccessibility. Over 2 million people a day pass through Shinjuku station andthis type of traffic requires certain social rules. People are disciplined herewhen it comes to making room for people to get off before everyone gets on andstanding on the left of escalators while walking on the right. You mightimagine that on the train it would be filled with the harmony of cell phones,other electronic devices, people talking, and people performing for money. It’s not.

It’s rush hour and your waiting in one of many lines toboard the subway. It arrives and in unison everyone creeps forward leaving anopen slot down the middle for the people exiting. Like water people flow outthe path of least resistance and then everyone begins to board a train thatstill looks full. "Pushers" with white gloves politely usher more and morepeople in. As the train gets tighter you step in the door and the pusher earnshis keep by shoving you, not so gently, into the car. There is no need to holdon because you are surrounded on all sides by fellow passengers and fallingover is an impossibility. The man closest to the door sucks in his gut andtries to pull in his coat as the doors close. With a piece of coat hanging fromthe door the train starts to take off. In unison everyone moves, with eachmomentum change the people sway like kelp in the ocean. The train car is eerilysilent. No cell phones or ideal chatter, no singing or laughing, just people ontheir way to work.

We also rode the Japanese bullet train, the shinkansen, fromTokyo to Nagoya and then a local train from Nagoya to Takayama. The Shinkansenis quiet and comfortable at 170mph. The food we purchased at the train station wasgood, Anthony ate all the chocolate pastry we bought because, “I didn’t knowyou wanted any”. Not to worry though he did offer me the last little bite ofbread without any chocolate in it.

Not the usual rush hour crowd, but polite, nonetheless

Cleaning Ladies Finishing Up Cleaning Our Shinkansen