Today was a busy day that started very early. I got up at 4:30 am because I wanted to try to make it to Toyosu Fish Market to see them auction off the giant tuna fish. These auctions start at 5 am and finish around 6:30 or 7:00 am. The trains here don't start running until 5 am, so I aimed to get on the first train. That part went ok, but then I needed to catch a bus from the station, to the fish market. I saw my bus, but couldn't find the stop, and missed it. That put me back about 20 minutes or so. By the time I got to the market, and up to observation deck, complete with visitor pass, the auction had finished. I did get to see them loading the giant tuna onto forklifts for moving and putting into trucks though. That was incredible! These fish are sometimes 600-900 pounds and just massive. It's hard to imagine them swimming around in the water. I think if I encountered one while scuba diving that it would definitely be a bit of an experience.
On the way to my next destination after this market, I boarded the bus along with quite a lot of other people carting white styrofoam boxes, wheelie carts and wicker baskets all filled with fish and seafood that was purchased at the market. I think you have to be from a restaurant or something to buy this seafood from the wholesale market. It was truly an authentic experience though, because the bus smelled like fish and everyone was wearing rubber boots. I laughed to myself because I hadn't expected to encounter that. All in all it was worth going, but I think you would have to get a hotel or hostel nearby so that you could arrive at 5 am when it begins. I did get some photos of what it looks like during the auction with all the buyers, from a video that was playing in the observation deck. The rest of the photos of the tuna were what I actually saw. It's interesting because they cut off the tail piece and place it on top of the fish that's for sale, to show the colour of the meat. They also have painted the floor of the huge auction house, green, in order to show the red colour of the tuna clearly. It was quite cool. Here are the pics of Toyosu Fish Market. I went to another market where they used to do these sales, right afterward, which is called Tsukiji Market. I tried some fresh scallops and a skwer of Eel livers, which I'd never tried. They were quite good, with the odd bitter parts.
Here are the photos from Tsukiji Market, below.
From here, I jumped back on the train and went to an art space that I'd read about, called 3331 Arts Cyd. It is an old junior high school transformed into an artists space with studios and galleries. It was really cool but some of the exhibits were in transition and the galleries closed. I did see some cool stuff though. Check it out.
The bowls on the wall shot were ramen soup bowls, styrofoam, that had little people's faces in the bottom of them, in plastic. I don't know if kids made these or not, but they were super cute. The dinosaur was made from other used toys. The bird was made from colourful plastic hair brushes. Really original and interesting. It was a very nice space.
After the art space, it was still only 10:30 am, so I jumped back on the train and went to an area I hadn't yet seen, called Harajuku. It is a shopping district near Yoyogi Park (The Rockabilly guys weren't there, J) with the biggest Japanese equivilent of a Dollar Store. They call them Daiso or 100 Yen Shop. It was three stories and full of interesting items. I poked around the area, took some pics and bought some souvenirs to take home, then was so tired from getting up so early, that I headed home. I had wanted to walk in Yoyogi Park, but couldn't muster up the energy. I had a nap when I got back to Keron's place. Here are the pics from Harajuku area.
Keron came home from work and we decided to go out for some dinner and to experience a bit of the bar scene. It was really fun. We went to a tiny little bar in the Shinjuku area where we met a guy from the UK who is travelling as well. We chatted with him and had a drink together. The bar only seats about 5 or 6 people if you squish them in. The whole area is just bars, similar to this, that are tiny little spaces. It's really cool. Here are the pics of the area and the bar we went to.
After this bar, we went to a dumpling restaurant to eat something. It was delicious, packed, and they cook the dumplings right there in the middle of the counter. I got so distracted by the atmosphere and talking with Keron, that I forgot to take a photo of our actual dinner. Well, I'm sure you get the idea.....lol The pics below are of this place, some street shots, and a hotel lounge that we went to after dinner for a drink. It was a great evening and wonderful to be able to spend some time with Keron before I leave. Everyone on the silent train, is on their phones. Super clean, not much noise, and packed. So different from Toronto.
Well, that's it for this day. I have one more full day here, then leave on Jan. 30 to go to BC to see Jan and hopefully Suzy. It's been amazing here and I think I will go to another of the digital light museum shows tomorrow, Teamlab Planets. Maybe I'll still have time to squeeze in another onsen before I go.
