maguro
japan | travelled in 2014 | posted on sep 15, 2014
update: in 2018 tsukiji fish market has closed it's gate and move to a new location in toyosu where it is still possible to watch the tuna auction.
speaking of japanese food what comes first in your mind?
sushi!
of course the japanese kitchen has much more to offer and - oh yes - most of it finger lickin' good! but fish definitely plays a mojor role in japanese cuisine. the king of all these marine creatures eaten is tuna, or maguro, as it is called in japan.
so if you want to learn a little more about fish and especially tuna, then the must-see location is tsukiji fish market in tokyo which is considered the biggest fish market worldwide. most of it is off-limits to the public, but from 9 am, everybody is allowed to visit the seafood wholesale area. it is a busy place filled with hundreds of stalls offering all kinds of marine products.
however, the most interesting event at tsukiji is the daily tuna auction where tons of frozen and fresh tuna fall under the hammer. around 4 am all tuna fish to be sold on that day are lying stringed on the floor of the auction hall. licensed buyers check the fish to decide which one they want to bid for and at which price.
the auction itself starts at 5.20 am. the crowd - the auctioneer and the buyers - move from one row of fish to the next. and sometimes within seconds a fish is sold.
regular prices are around $25 per kg. well, tuna can be huge, sometimes 300kg or even more. and one ot those colossuses can be cut into more than 10.000 pieces of nigiri.
around 6.15 am, all fish is sold and then picked up by the buyers. some of them are loaded into trucks and some are immediately transported to the wholesale area of the market where they are cut into pieces and sold.
so, if you stay in tokyo and want to see the action by yourself, then you have to get up early... very early.
every day only 120 visitors divided into two groups are allowed to visit the tuna auction for about 20 minutes. it is free of charge, but places are assigned on a first-come-first-serve basis. we have been told to be there at 4:30. luckily, our taxi was a little faster than expected, so we arrived at 4:20. at that time, already more than 110 people where waiting, so we were among the very last ones allowed to enter.
but there is another option: the central market in osaka. it is not as famous as tsukiji market and maybe also a little smaller. but especially the tuna auction is the same. even better. as there are hardly any tourists going there, you can enter and walk around without any limitations. but if you do so, please do not touch anything, especially not the fish, as there are very strict hygiene regulations.
oh, and better do not raise your hand during the auction. unless you know what to do with 250kg of tuna meat.
