Yegenaga Travel & Tours Guide

-Market Tsukiji fish are still reluctant to greet the sun as the Tokyo subway started operating. At 5 am and labyrinthine alleys iron horse swing. New one-two people were seen walking through the automated ticket purchasing. The rate of Hibiya Line train quickly passed into a station and stopped briefly at Tsukiji Station. Some parents who had been carrying a shopping bag rather large size went down to leave the train.

Directly felt in the particularities of this station, because the ad pictures on the board is dominated by the image lighted sushi. Walking closer to the surface, strong smell of fish so stimulate fine hairs sense of smell.

And sure enough, at the top of this underground station there was Tsukiji Central Fish Market, or which in Japanese is called the Tsukiji-Shijo.

Young morning at Tsukiji fish market just to be times when the most busy. Fanfare three-wheeled transport vehicles which led to hasty impression time after the rider was speeding on streets that have been packed with parked trucks neat box.

Busyness is evident in this complex market. The fish that have been purchased and packaged in thousands of white boxes that have been previously filled with crushed ice. The boxes were then marked as a bookmark, and then arranged in vans.

Fish market located in the heart of Tokyo was the center of trading activity and an auction of about more than 450 kinds of sea food or “seafood”. Starting from a small sardines to tuna weighing 300 kg, from cheap seaweed-festive until super expensive caviar.

Tsukiji fish market, Tsukiji approximately 787,782 metric tons of sea products traded in one year, or approximately 2888 tons per day. Economic value of this trade reached 748 billion yen, equivalent to Rp56, 1 trillion per year (1993 data).

Japan has two core markets marine products other than Tsukiji, Ohta and Adachi ie. But from the markets, Tsukiji handles 87 percent of the total transactions, so these numbers make Tsukiji Market one of the largest in the world. Tsujiki also supplies food ingredients from the sea for around 20 million inhabitants of Tokyo and surrounding areas.

At the fish market which is supposedly one of the largest in the world, there are at least 60000-65000 workers who earn them – including traders, accountant, auctioneer, employees of companies, and distributors.

Based on history, Tsukiji fish market began to appear a long way since the beginning of the Edo Period, or in the range of the 16th century.

Known as “Uogashi” or the fish market on the riverbank, Tsukiji Market was first built when the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu the first building of Edo – or Tokyo now – invite all fishermen from Tsukudajima (Osaka) and give them special rights to catch fish for later memasoknya to Edo Castle.

-MarketTsukiji fish that fishermen catch and send them to the palace and sell the rest at the Nihonbashi bridge, so was born “Uogashi”, a fish market for the ordinary people on the riverbank.

Then, along with increased demand from buyers who continue to grow along with increasing population, Nihonbashi Uogashi changed and developed into a larger market.

The market is controlled by the traders who got licenses from the government of the Shogun. They buy fish from local ports, and then sell them to traders in the market and they have a huge advantage, so that they can create their own distribution networks.

While vegetable markets are supplied from the edge of the area was established in Edo Kanda, Senju, and Komagome – three vegetable market owned by the Edo.

Like the conditions in the fish market, vegetable market is also highly profitable suppliers and traders. During the Edo Period, the market price is strictly determined by the bargaining transactions between merchants and buyers.

As a result, the public auction was very difficult to occur except in the vegetable markets only.

But in the Meiji and Taisho Era things changed drastically. Privileges removed traders vanished. It happened after the August 1918, riots broke out called “Rice Riots” ( “kome Soudai”) in hundreds of cities across Japan.

Riots protesting food shortages and speculative practices of merchants, so that the Japanese Government is urged to create a new institution in the field of food distribution, especially for those in rural areas.

Tsukiji fish marketTepat-1 September 1923 at around 20 private market, or closed from the public, who was in Tokyo destroyed by the earthquake that Sohor known as “The Great Kanto Earthquake”.

After the earthquake, the city of Tokyo and then built the main markets in accordance with the Act Central Market – which passed in the same year. The result? Since 1935 Tokyo has three core markets of Tsukiji, Kanda and Koto. Markets while the smaller number of more than a dozen, such as Ebara, Toshima, and Adachi operate to support the population needs.

Coveted Travelers

Tsukiji Fish Market is located near Shijo Station on Tsikiji subway line Ōedo Line, and just above the Tsukiji Station Hibiya Line route.

Market complex is divided into two, namely “the market” ( “jonai Shijo”) and “outer market” ( “jogai Shijo”). Markets in the fish auction is held. Here there are about 900 licensed traders, who opened a small kiosk. While the outside market is a combination of traders who sell kitchen tools, restaurant goods, grocery, and sushi restaurants.

The market did not operate until the end of the day, while the outside markets are generally open till evening. Local government statistics say that every day thousands of travelers willing to get up very early and hurried “enjoy” Tsukiji fish market only to find the sensation of activity in this fish market. Read the rest of this entry »