Day 16 - Tsujiki Fish Market, Ameyoko, Asukasa and Tokyo Tower

The famous Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo is one of the major tourist attractions for visitors. Apparently it is slated to be move to another location for the Tokyo Olympic games in 2020. Being lovers of seafood, we knew this was one market that we could not miss.

We heard that the tuna auctions are actually quite boring to watch, plus you have to line up for tickets before 5am and it is on a first come, first serve basis as tickets are limited to 120 people. The rest of the market does not open up to the public till after 9am as visitors may interfere with the setup of the place. We took the JR line up to Shinbashi station and walked the rest of the way to the market. We arrived a bit earlier than 9am, but it was clear how people would be a hazard to the area.

This was one of the main access gates and there were vehicles of various sizes whizzing around. They do not go slow and will not slow down for a tourist photo opportunity. Those little scooters below are everywhere and pretty much silent, so keep your wits about you and stick to the pedestrian paths.

I have to admit that I didn't do much research on the market before we got there. I knew that there was an inner and outer market, but I didn't have a map to show where they were to each other. Anyway, after we entered, I found two rows of restaurants and shops and I thought this was the highly rated outer market. 

There were queues of people lining up for the restaurants but the other shops were rather disappointing. I didn't see much of the other produce for sale. Except this catfish

It didn't seem much of a market for us and we didn't want to line up for a restaurant, so we headed to the wholesale section.

It is your typical asian wet market. Be prepared for your shoes to get wet and the ground isn't too smooth either. 

 

Different types of fish in different sections

Fish of all types everywhere...

I have no idea what type of fish this is, but it looks like it has human teeth!

Another unknown fish

You still have to be wary of the little scooters when you are in here, although they do go a bit slower.

So at the tuna section...

 All this chopped up tuna means that there will be bits discarded

I wonder what they do with the off cuts? Make animal food from it. It seems that they segregate it (ok I did see styrofoam boxes in it, but they were just placed on top). I hope it doesn't go all to landfill/combustion. There were many trolleys full of fish waste.

In some places you can buy packets of sashimi. But this is not an area for you to buy snacks. If you buy fish from here, don't expect to get the typical chopsticks and wet towel with it. It is strictly wholesale. Anyway, we got some sashimi.

You pay at these little counters

Have to admit, too much sashimi makes you feel ill...it is too rich.

Meanwhile, outside the market...

We finally stumbled onto the outer market and I can see why it is popular! It was so crowded that I didn't want to get out the camera. But here is where you go if you want snacks, small shops (kitchenware) and restaurants. Also, if you are a gaijin, be prepared to be stopped by Japanese and asked if they can have a conversation with you to practice their English.

After this, we went back to Shinbashi station and took the train up to Ueno to go to Ameyoko. This is another market area which sells a mixture of things, from produce to clothes. 

There are two alleys, the left says Ameyoko, I don't know what the one on the right says, but it has basically the same stuff. More fish

In case you have horns on your face, there is a face mask for that!

No one seemed to care that this dog was walking around into the shops. He did have a Marlboro vest on and this was a cigarette store...

We then headed east on foot towards the Sumida river. We were heading towards Asakusa as this was a area where the building are supposed to retain the feel of the Edo period.  I always think you see more of a country if you walk and on the way to Asakusa we passed by some interesting shops. There seemed to be a cluster of shops that sold funeral altars for the house. This is an altar placed at home for people to pray to deceased ancestors/relatives. I have to say, there are some very elaborate ones.

The Asakusa main attraction is Sensoji temple and the massive lanterns.

Leading up to the temple are a row of shops selling lots and lots of souvenirs. 

There was an unusually large crowd in one area and we went to have a nosy. It seemed that they had some very, very tall people visiting? There were camera crews and photographers surrounding them. 

At the temple you purify yourself at the spring. You can then buy incense to burn and waft the smoke towards yourself

 

There were a lot of people there.

Here's where we tried omikuji. For 100 yen, you shake a canister until a stick falls out. The stick has a number and you pull open the drawer with the corresponding number to read your fortune.

The Giraffey will now demonstrate.

This is the canister with the sticks. See the hole in the top of it? You shake the canister until one of the sticks fall out.

He got the number 20

And his fortune...

Good fortune!?!?!

Hubby's turn

Hmmm...regular fortune, so not as good as the giraffe...

My turn

Aw crap. 

Disease and attacked by danger -_-

Actually, the next day I did feel ill! Coincidence?!?!

It was about mid afternoon, so we took a walk across the Sumida river towards Tokyo tower.

The famous golden poo from Asahi.

Tokyo tower

We didn't go up Tokyo tower, but went around the maze of shops and it was also partly an excuse to sit and rest in the cool air for a little bit. Lots of shops there, including a Totoro store!

Pretty much every shopping centre has a floor of restaurants. We have had enough of rice so we picked a noodle shop this time. We ended up choosing tsukemen or dipping noodles. We thought it was interesting and headed up to the crowded restaurant. We ordered using a ticket machine and both picked the standard flavour dish. when when we were seated and handed over our tickets, we were asked what size noodles we wanted. We could get the small size or a normal size, both at the same price! So we both had normal size. I later read that women generally get the smaller size, but I was hungry! We were also asked if we wanted a bib. We politely declined.

The soup and the noodles came out separately with a half boiled egg (yolk is still runny, but that is how it's supposed to be).  The broth was thick! That pork stock must have been boiling for days to get that thick! You take some noodles and dip it into the hot stock and slurp away.  It was awesome, a must try.

Funny side story, we were seated at a counter and a salaryman turned up and sat next to hubby. He ordered an extra large version with extra noodles. He also asked for a bib. Now this guy got served after we had started eating, but he managed to slurp down his massive bowl of noodles before we were half way through ours! Plus he then asked for some hot water to water down the remaining stock, which he then drank down. He was sweating profusely from eating so fast and had to get out his hanky to wipe his face. We just sat there awestruck, finishing our noodles as he left. We declined the extra hot water for the stock

By then it was late and we had walked for hours. Time to take a quick look at the lit up tower before heading back.

The next post will have less pictures in it. We spent quite a bit of time trying to find fishing stores for hubby to visit. Pretty boring...