We caught a train from our local station just after 0730 and rode to Tsukiji Station which is close to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market.
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The fish market covers several blocks near the central Tokyo waterfront. The interior part of the market is dedicated to working merchants and auctioneers who start early each morning.
When we were living in Yokohama in 1968-74 I belonged to two rod and gun clubs, one was the Yokohama Rod and Gun Club where members were mostly Americans with a sprinkling of diplomatic personnel and some Japanese. The other club was Yokohama Tsuri Kai, composed of all Japanese members except me. I gained entry through a sushi master friend and enjoyed going fishing with that club once a month or so.
One time in the 1970 time frame when my sushi friend asked if I wanted to visit the Tsukiji market I jumped at the chance. We got there a little after three in the morning and I got to watch the professionals in action.
On Thursday we walked through the small side streets that go around, into and through the market. Lots of fish and lots of tourists were on display.
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| Just about any fish or other product of the sea can be found in this market |
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| A typical little alleyway, lined with shops, leading into the heart of the market |
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| Many of the restaurants had people out front promoting the freshness or variety of food or skill of the chef |
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| This store was selling fresh sashimi cut from the tuna in the background |
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| This store was selling "kujira bacon" (whale bacon). For some reason there was no sign in English promoting this product. |
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About 0830 we found this little two-man sushi shop with 14 stools. We had to wait about fifteen minutes to get a seat but the sushi was worth the wait. Note the man in the foreground having a small bottle of sake with his breakfast sushi. |
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| Ikuko had this dish similar to "chirashi zushi" but made with tuna slices over sushi rice with sliced dried seaweed, pickled daikon, leaf and flower stalk of shiso (perilla plant) and fresh ground wasabi. I had chef's choice nigirizushi which was very good. It's not often we find fresh ground horseradish in sushi restaurants in America so it was a real treat to have it here. Altogether an excellent breakfast. |
After breakfast we made our way to the Kabukiza Theater where we had tickets for shows starting at 1100. We had thirty minutes to spare before time to enter so we stopped next door in a second floor coffee shop and had coffee or tea for ¥850 each (a little over $8.00). They were good drinks but not that good.
After the rest we went back to the Kabukiza Theater, rented translating devices and found our seats.
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| This old street sign was preserved from an earlier era |
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| This exterior holds true to the Fourth Period design |
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| The theater is a little incongruous set among the huge modern buildings not far from Ginza Street |
There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, of an Egyptian tourist who fell in love with one of the "female" kabuki actors. He went back to the Kabukiza Theater many times trying to connect with "her." His unrequited love still makes a good story.
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| Everything you wanted to know about Kabukza |
After the Kabuki plays finished about 1545 we walked around the Ginza shopping area. We were window shopping although in the basement (actually second basement B2) of the Mitsukoshi Department Store we drooled over all the beautiful food on display.
A little later we made our way back to the district around our hotel and looked for a place to enjoy dinner. We found a little Mom and Pop restaurant not far from our hotel where they specialized in oden. We ordered oden meal sets, except Ikuko who ordered the tai (red snapper) dinner and me, I ordered the grilled salted mackerel. I figured it would be good to finish the day with fish since I'd started with fish.
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| Dinner Thursday night was at a local restaurant. My mackerel dinner is the one with the beer. The dinners look good, don't they? |
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