My alarm goes off at 4am. For a moment I’m confused, but then it dawns on me: fish market. I feel in the need for some deep seawater, so stock up at the vending machine before taking to the pre-dawn streets of Chuo-ku, en route to the reclaimed land of Tsukiji. There is not a soul around and, as I walk in the gloom, I feel like a lunatic . A little later, I pass Denny’s and although there are signs of life inside and 4am is ideal Denny’s-time, I have a rendezvous with the world’s freshest sushi, so keep going. I walk zombie-like for a few more blocks before I am surrounded suddenly by activity. The streets are lined with the stalls and noodle bars that indicate I have reached the outskirts of the market.
When I get into the market itself, things just seem to be getting started. Away from the epicentre of the market, people are sleeping, reading the paper, cleaning their 'meat saws' or otherwise occupying themselves before the action begins. Closer in, the ta-ray mini trucks are zipping around with their loads of seafood; everywhere, polystyrene crates are stacked high. People are working hard under an abundance of artificial light as I blink my bleary eyes at the spectacle of so much fish. This is a busy, working market and I feel like an intruder as I take my photos of silver tuna, oversize shellfish and coiled octopus, whilst trying not to get in the way or step in the larger of the many puddles. There are plenty of other tourists wandering about, but most are hanging around by the sushi stalls and queues are forming outside what I assume are the most popular ones.
At around 5.30, I happen to be standing outside a stall just as it opens and I’m hurried inside by the owner. I order the set meal and within minutes the small eatery is full of people. After a warming clam and miso soup, I am presented with a sushi and sashimi sampler containing: tuna belly, squid, tuna, sea urchin, eel and one other white fish that might be snapper. It’s all delicious. The eel is my favourite; it’s not at all dry as eel can sometimes be and I put this down to the freshness of the fish. I’m then given some fish-egg and tuna rolls and the moment these are consumed the chef indicates that I should pay and move on. I know he has a sharp knife, so don't argue, especially considering that I’m just one of sixty thousand people who will want feeding at the market today and most of them will have done more to earn it than simply roll out of bed a little early.
When I get into the market itself, things just seem to be getting started. Away from the epicentre of the market, people are sleeping, reading the paper, cleaning their 'meat saws' or otherwise occupying themselves before the action begins. Closer in, the ta-ray mini trucks are zipping around with their loads of seafood; everywhere, polystyrene crates are stacked high. People are working hard under an abundance of artificial light as I blink my bleary eyes at the spectacle of so much fish. This is a busy, working market and I feel like an intruder as I take my photos of silver tuna, oversize shellfish and coiled octopus, whilst trying not to get in the way or step in the larger of the many puddles. There are plenty of other tourists wandering about, but most are hanging around by the sushi stalls and queues are forming outside what I assume are the most popular ones.
At around 5.30, I happen to be standing outside a stall just as it opens and I’m hurried inside by the owner. I order the set meal and within minutes the small eatery is full of people. After a warming clam and miso soup, I am presented with a sushi and sashimi sampler containing: tuna belly, squid, tuna, sea urchin, eel and one other white fish that might be snapper. It’s all delicious. The eel is my favourite; it’s not at all dry as eel can sometimes be and I put this down to the freshness of the fish. I’m then given some fish-egg and tuna rolls and the moment these are consumed the chef indicates that I should pay and move on. I know he has a sharp knife, so don't argue, especially considering that I’m just one of sixty thousand people who will want feeding at the market today and most of them will have done more to earn it than simply roll out of bed a little early.
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