Saturday, February 7, 2009

Tsukiji Fish Market


I visited Tsukiji Fish Market, a bustling place in Tokyo. Tourists are no longer allowed to visit the early morning fish auction, but visitors can still walk through the huge market while dodging vehicles and trying to stay out of the way!
This is frozen tuna, which probably came from long distances such as coastal Europe or the Indian ocean. I thought all of the sushi in Japan would be fresh and local, but the salmon actually comes frozen from near Norway!
Scallops and shellfish

Boiled octopus
After visiting the market, I went to a restaurant across the street for some of the freshest sushi ever. A Taiwanese tourist sitting next to me ordered this shrimp sushi, which was still moving on her plate. You can see that it lifted up its tail while I was taking this picture! A gruesome sight to me, but Itsumi said that, since the head had already been removed, the shrimp was already dead and this was just a reflex, and an example of Japanese emphasis on freshness. This is certainly no more gruesome than what happens in the slaughterhouses in the United States every day.
Around the same time, my cousin MJ bought fish from Tsukiji market on the other side of the ocean, in San Francisco!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What did you find interesting in the books you are reading. Some words that would enrich my life, that I could pass on to other people to help them to understand the world and themselves.
This is from Maya Serada Devis Regaining Consciousness in the Western World.
"Truth is something that is heard, rather than spoken. Listenng with the heart , one hears the truth in all things. Listening with the mind one hears falseness and confusion.
It is nautural, then, that those that preceive with thier intellect, only, are cynical and those who preceive with love, and wisdom are at peace."

Orlando