My group set our alarms for 4:00 A.M. so that
we could arrive at the Tsukiji Market at 5:20 when the tuna auction starts.
We took a cab and arrived early. At first our little group felt out of place
and lost, but we found a few people who could speak English. With their help
we found our way through the market which covers several city blocks and employs
about 15,000 people.
The rumble of the diesel engines, and the bustle of activity shocked us into
consciousness. Anyone not fully alert took the chance of being run over by a
motorized vehicle. As we made our way to the auction, we passed stalls (there
are over 1,000 of them) selling every sort of fish and crustaceans, some were
still squirming. We learned that the Tsukiji Market is one of the largest fish
markets in the world. About 90% of the fish eaten in Tokyo, passes through this
center.
Bidding was already taking place by the
time we found the auction. Frozen tuna, some weighing as much as 650 pounds,
covered the floor. Most of it had been flown in from all over Japan, and
as well as from London, Boston, and Africa. The bidders wore baseball caps
with plastic badges that identified the store or restaurant they represented.
We had to listen carefully, as the bidding was drowned out by the roar of
the forklift and flat bed engines.
Buyers carried short wooden poles with
iron hooks which were used to tilt the fish up to examine their lower sides,
or to hack out little bits of frozen flesh. After they are auctioned, the
fish are pushed on carts to the buyers' stalls. Then they are sliced into
sections with an electric saw.
Everyone was busy with their daily routines; moving fish
from one area to another, dumping them from bucket to bucket, and with slicing
and packing. Finally, we saw boxes of crustaceans, mollusks, and fish leave
by trucks. About 17,000 trucks come and go through the gates of the Tsukiji
Market on an average day.
Despite being busy attending to many chores, everyone we approached was friendly and took the time to pose for pictures. Many smiles and much laughter were shared while trying to understand each other.
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