15 Days in Kanagawa & Hokkaido – Day 03 – Tsukiji Outer Market @ Tokyo

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The weather report showed that Day 03 was going to be the warmest of the three full days we have in the Kanagawa prefecture – perfect for a full day of sight-seeing and exploration. The first stop of the day was the Tsukiji Outer Market. The famous Tsukiji Fish Market seems to have closed last year and moved to a new location in Toyosu, so we made do with visiting this open outer market that still remains open in the old area. The new wholesale market in Toyosu is actually nearer to our hotel than the old one was, but we’ll have to KIV that market to a next visit to Japan in the future.

We reached the Outer Market from a direct 6:28AM train coming out of Anamori-Inari Station to Higashi-Ginza station, followed by an easy ten minute walk to the edge of the outer market. The market opens at 5AM, so by the time we’d arrive at 7AM, the market was already in full-opening hour mode, though crowds were still fairly sparse at this point in the morning. There were lots of shops selling seafood and produce, and restaurants offering sushi and other exotic (and pricey) seafood eats. The best bits though were the snacks the kids enjoyed: including Tamagoyakis (¥100) offered at a shop that saw long queues, and long queues means the food must be good; barbequed on a skewer Unagi (which Peter loves but Hannah and I cringed at the thought of) and Scallops (¥200 each), and Strawberry Daifukus (¥350).

Every place we go is a teaching opportunity for the wife to the kids.
The wife making a mental note of the Strawberry Daifuku shop for a return visit in a bit!
So fresh You Can Eat Now.
I’m sure the experts can figure out the differences between each species. I couldn’t – all these sea creature types are all a blur to me haha.
Short of fishing out in the open sea and eating your catch on the boat, restaurants like these in the outer market offer fare that’s as fresh as  you can otherwise normally get.
Tamagoyakis- Japanese omelettes – offered at this shop were really good.
And cheap at ¥100 each too. We had two: one of which had sweet sauce added.
The chef prepares fairly large pieces, which are in turn cut to ice-cream cone sizes.
Gigantic shrimps!
Crustaceans!
Fresh fish!
Many other shops selling other types of produce too.
Barbequed seafood on skewers.
P is the only one in the family who really likes Unagi, or eel. H and me hate even the thought of it, while the wife is pretty neutral.
Everyone – excepting me – loves strawberry daifuku, or mochis though!

Continued in the next post: Omiya Railway Museum!