A fun part of traveling is finding great places to eat. We really enjoyed our meals in Tokyo, not only for its freshness in ingredients, but also for the unique types of food. For one birthday meal, Burt selected eel for lunch. Then for another meal, we were shown some of the best sushi restaurants right at the Toyusa Fish Market Auction area. We experienced the best grilled octopus ever, that practically melted in our mouths instead of being chewie. The best surprise was tasting the wagyu beef, which is considered Japan’s national living treasure. The genetics of the Wagyu cow yielded one of the best beefs in the world, and comes in multiple grades, including the chautebriand level we tasted, which is one level below the Kobe beef. It has the right fat marbling content, which simply melted in our mouths. We understand that even Hawaii sends its cattle to Japan to process.

One interesting cultural bit is that almost all restaurants have plastic replicas of their meals displayed in the window. The images above are of a few of these plastic meals. They allow the customer to see how the food will be served before they even enter the restaurant. For non-Japanese speakers, it allows people like us to just point to the meal we want to order.

The Tsukiji Fish Market was a delight to explore though it was totally packed with both tourists and locals. There were lots of small eateries that served everything from fresh oyster chucking, fresh shell fish, fried scallops. You could snack your way across the market (as we did), or take home fresh ingredients.

Every day, the Toyosu Market tuna auction is conducted between 5:00-6:30 AM for wholesalers, and within an hour, all the fresh and frozen tuna are sold out. Each tuna is sold within 90 seconds at auction, and all bids are conducted with hand signals. The largest consumers of tuna are in the US and Japan.

Toward the end of the auction, the higher valued Bluefin tuna are bid, and on Jan 5, 2024, the bid went up to 114 million yen ($775,000), which was three times higher than any previous sale. It is common for sales to reach 3 Million yen ($20,000) for a single bluefin tuna fish. Toward the end of the auction, local restaurants can come in to bid the runts for less money. Visitors are only allowed to view through glass from the second floor (which is where these photos were taken).

There are many other wholesale food sold at the same market, including fresh fruits and vegetables. The entire warehouse is massive, and it is hard to imagine how much food is stored there, but it is all sold each morning, leaving nothing but empty boxes by noon.

There are knife sharpening specialists where all the top chefs in major Japanese restaurants bring their knives to sharpen (top-right and lower-right). Evelyn and Burt are poised in front of the restaurant whose owner sold a Bluefin Tuna for 3 Million yen, or $20,000 (center).

Some species of the adult Bluefin tuna is becoming critically endangered. About 80% of the caught bluefin tuna are consumed in Japan. The bluefin tuna is known for its rich buttery texture and succulent flavor and sought after in high end restaurants worldwide. Bluefin tuna can live up to 40 years and migrate across all oceans.