Recommended Tsukiji tour guide
 

I just got back from a trip to Toyko where I visited the Tsukiji fish market. A previous FT'er mentioned this tour guide, but I couldn't find the original post so I figured I'd start a new one.

Anyway, the tour is operated by two men who used to actually work in the Tsukiji market. I was the only person on the tour that day, so I met Naoto at 4am. Actually, I showed up 15 minutes early and he was there waiting for me. Since we had some extra time, Naoto first took me to a local fisherman shrine and explained to me their prayer ritual and showed me some other small figurines and explained their significance.

Then we hit the fish market. Wow! If it swims or crawls in the sea, you can find it there. I normally eschew tours, but in this case I'm definitely glad I used Naoto. He gave me a COMPLETE tour of the fish market - frozen and fresh tuna inspections, live fish (including watching somebody butchering them), the inner tuna auctions (both standing and moving), and the carving of fresh tuna for sushi restuarants. The only area where we didn't have access was the sea urchin roe inspection area, which we saw from the doorway.

Had I gone myself, I would have only seen a small fraction of the market and not understood a lot of it. Naoto is fluent in English and readily answered all my questions. For example, I asked him what effect (if any) tuna overfishing was causing. He said that while the number of fish caught hasn't decreased, the size definitely has. Anyway, Naoto did an excellent job explaining what was going on and is definitely an insider. He knows his way around the buildings and was greeted by several market workers during my tour.

There is a fixed timetable as various events happen at specific times, so the tour may move a bit fast for some people. But you can always go back afterwards. We ended the tour at Sushi-Dai (or was it Daiwa?) where I had an excellent sushi breakfast. The tour cost 7,500 Yen and was well worth it.

If I ever bring my friends to Tokyo, I'll be using Naoto again. I would suggest wearing a good pair of shoes or boots though as you'll be walking through water and shallow puddles.

Anyway, if you're interested, Naoto's website is http://homepage3.nifty.com/tokyowork...ijiTourEng.htm - It seems that they have a fairly agressive SPAM filter but if you put "Tsukiji" in your email subject heading, that should work. Let me know if you have any questions!

When I visited Tsukiji, I went on my own. These guides will definitely give a visitor a "complete" tour of the market.

Its pretty fun to wing it by yourself too. Need some free time thats all.