When I penned my farewell to Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market I thought that was it. That I’d have to relive cherished moments of the largest fish market in the world — from witnessing the legendary tuna auction to eating sushi breakfast at 5 AM – just in my mind. That I’d never experience the exhilarating market vibe ever again.
I was wrong. Kinda.
One day, after visiting the Honganji temple, Fafa offered to walk by the market as it’s in the same neighborhood.
“Come on, let’s pay homage to it”, he said.
It took us no time to realize that the Tsukiji FIsh Market, well the Tsukiji Outer Market, is still alive and buzzing with activities, people, and food.
Tsukiji Outer Market
The energy of the market was as high as the first time I visited it. The closest place which reminded me of it was the Namba market in Osaka. But this was much more cramped. It was so packed the crowd was spilling out onto the road, but we managed to squeeze in.
There are rows of restaurants, mostly sushi, on both sides of the Tsukiji Outer Market alleys. There are kitchenware stores where many new year decorations were sold.
We also spotted a couple of hipster coffee shops, but the main attraction of Tsukiji Outer Market is definitely the food stalls.
We saw a family got down from the taxi, ordered food from the tuna stall, and ate while standing. All within 5 minutes.
I also eavesdropped a conversation between a knife seller and a tourist couple. I was tempted to get the world-famous Japanese knife to replace my dull IKEA knife back in Melbourne.
Happy and still buzzed from the copious amount of sake from the Beer Lady stall, we vowed to come back to Tsukiji Outer Market next time. “Next time” turned out to be a few days later when we came back for our first meal of the year in Sushizanmai.
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