Tsukiji Fish Market – October 10, 2007

I have been fascinated by fish and fishing for a while now. I think that this fascination came as a result of watching Japanese television shows in America. The one show that I am talking about is called ‘Sasuke,’ or ‘Ninja Warrior.’ It is basically an obstacle course show, where contestants try to complete a nearly impossible obstacle course. In any case, many of the more successful contestants were fishermen by trade. I had never heard of someone being a fisherman before, or rather, because it is obvious that there are people who are fishermen, I had never seen a fisherman before. It seemed to me an odd profession that one might pick. However, after watching the show for a while, I saw that there were a lot of people who, not only were fishermen, but also those who wanted to be fishermen, as if being a fisherman was a noble profession. So then I thought about it. Indeed, I then realized the nobility in fisherman-ary. So it was important to me to see the Tsukiji Wholesale Fish Markey in Tokyo.

Even more, I think that at this point of our stay in Tokyo, something like a fish market is what I needed to see. I wanted to see normal people doing normal things; I wanted to see what it is like to be a Japanese person in Tokyo. It seemed to be an obvious thing to see, and something that should be easy to see everyday. However, most of the Japanese people that I see are on some part of their commute either home or to work, or they are in my classrooms, trying to speak a little English. It didn’t seem to me that I was seeing more than a small sliver of Japanese life. Perhaps today I might widen that sliver of Japanese life that I experience.

It is said that all the different fish are sold here first thing in the morning through auction. I wanted to see some big tuna, or something, but by the time we came, at noon, everything was closing down. We could see the different isles where I could imagine fish and other seafood was being sold earlier in the day, but there was no fish. Instead we saw the few people who were left cleaning up their locations, and themselves; some people were eating lunch. There were also a lot of forklifts driving around, putting pallets back in their stacks, and placing boxes of vegetables on a truck for delivery to whoever bought it. Basically, it looked like a big industrial lot next to a river. I was disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to see the action take place, but I knew that it was unlikely that we would ever wake up early enough to see the auctions (at 5 or 6 in the morning), so the view that I got today will have to do.