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The early bird catches the worm! This morning's itinerary was
centred around food, so rising early was essential. I woke up at
around 06:00, freshened up, and planned to visit Toyosu Market
in the morning, followed by a road trip to Izu (伊豆) in the
afternoon. Since I wasn't sure when I'd be back at the hotel, I
checked out and left my luggage at the front desk by 07:00. |
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After checking out, I walked about 10 minutes from the hotel to
the Tsukiji (築地) bus stop, where I boarded the '都 05-2' bus ('都'
pronounced 'tɔ'). In Tokyo, many bus routes are identified with kanji (Japanised Chinese characters) as prefixes, helping locals recognise the
service areas and shortening the route numbers. However, this
can be a bit confusing for many people, other than Japanese and Chinese speakers. |
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Bus '都 05-2' (toward Tokyo Big Sight) |
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Information display for coming stop |
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Shin Toyosu Station bus stop (south bound) |
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A bright and sunny morning |
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| Tokyo's buses differ from those in Osaka and Kyoto in that
passengers pay upon boarding. You enter through the front door,
and the fare within the urban area of Tokyo is JP¥210 per adult
per ride. You can pay with a Suica card or cash, and change is
provided for 1,000 yen notes (other denominations aren't
accepted). The buses also have announcements and displays
showing the upcoming stops. Before reaching your stop, you need
to press the bell to notify the driver, or you might miss it.
Passengers must exit via the rear door. |
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After passing 6 stops, I arrived at Shin Toyosu Station (新豊洲駅前) and
walked another 10 minutes to Toyosu Market. |
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The vehicle entrance of the Fruit and Vegetable
Market |
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Management Facilities Building of Toyosu Market
(passing by the track of the Yurikamome Line) |
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Toyosu Market (豊洲市場), also known as 'New Tsukiji', replaced the
old Tsukiji Market (築地市場) as Tokyo's – and the world's – largest
wholesale market for fresh food, handling 1,400 to 1,700 tonnes of
seafood daily. In addition to seafood auctions, fruit and vegetable
auctions are also held. Tsukiji Market ceased operations on 6th October
2018, and the relocation process began, with Toyosu Market starting
internal operations on 11th October and officially opening to the public
on 13th October. |
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| Toyosu Market doesn't feel like a 'traditional market' at
all. There's no chaotic atmosphere; instead, it's made up of
neat, modern buildings. It feels more like a techpark than a
market. The entire Toyosu Market consists of four large
buildings: the Fisheries Wholesale Market Building (水産卸売場棟), the
Fisheries Intermediate Wholesale Market Building (水産仲卸売場棟), the Management
Facilities Building (管理施設棟), and the Fruits and Vegetables Building (青果棟), all
connected by footbridges. The operational and tourist areas are
separated, and visitors can only view the operational areas
through glass windows. |
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Three 'Toyosu Market Gourmet' restaurants in
Fruits and Vegetables Bldg |
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| The dining area at Toyosu Market is called 'Toyosu Market
Gourmet' (豊洲市場ぐるめ), with restaurants located in the Fisheries
Intermediate Wholesale Market Building (22 restaurants),
Management Facilities Building (12 restaurants), and Fruits and
Vegetables Building (3 restaurants). |
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The three restaurants on the 1/F of the Fruit and Vegetable
Building feel a little lonely. Daiwa Sushi (大和寿司), a popular
restaurant from Tsukiji era, relocated to Toyosu and is now
situated in the relatively remote Fruits and Vegetables
Building. This corner only has three stores, which doesn't
generate much foot traffic, so there aren't as many people in
line as before. However, it doesn't mean it's devoid of
customers, and you still can’t get seated all that quickly! I
arrived at 08:30, and by the time I was seated, it was nearly
10:00, so I still had to wait about 1.5 hours. Of course,
compared to places like Sushi Dai (寿司大), where you need to take
a ticket around 5 am, this was much more convenient! |
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| Daiwa Sushi offers an omakase sushi platter (お任せ, chef's
selection), which includes seven pieces of nigiri sushi (握り寿司),
a portion of sushi roll, a piece of tamagoyaki (grilled
egg), and miso soup and green tea, priced at JP¥6,600. You can also extra order specific types of
sushi, with prices available on-site. Our chefs can speak
English, and what's even more impressive is that he can
name of various seafood in Cantonese (with a strong Japanese
accent, of course). Beside us, the chef was also serving two
other groups of Japanese customers, making a total of six
people. |
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Interior of Daiwa Sushi |
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| Today, I tried ôtoro (大トロ, strong fatty tuna), ika (イカ, cuttlefish), ebi (エビ, prawn), uni (ウニ, sea urchin), chûtoro (中トロ, medium fatty tuna), tai (鯛, snapper),
and anago (穴子, conger eel) at Daiwa Sushi, and I also ordered extra tako (タコ, octopus) and ubagai (ウバガイ, surf clam). The biggest surprises were the
uni and ubagai. The sushi is served one piece at a time, and the
chef will adds wasabi (山葵, Japanese horseradish) paste or soy
sauce as needed for each type of seafood, so there's no need for
extra seasoning. |
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The uni melted immediately in my mouth, filling my palate with a
rich umami flavour, with a slight salty taste from the seawater,
followed by a subtle sweetness. Some of my friends from Hong
Kong don't like uni, saying it has a fishy taste or even ammonia
smell. This is because it's difficult to find high-quality uni
in Hong Kong; the ones available are either not fresh enough
(the source of the fishy taste) or have added preservatives
(which cause the ammonia smell). High-quality uni won't have
these unpleasant flavours. |
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I often see some people from Hong Kong asking online, 'Is ubagai
served raw?' In Hong Kong, the ubagai you usually find have red-coloured
tails, indicating they are cooked. Raw ubagai have purple-blue
tails. The cooked ones are easier to store and less prone to
spoilage, which is why restaurants and supermarkets in Hong Kong
mostly sell cooked version. Only high-end restaurants serve raw
ubagai. The texture is completely different between raw and
cooked – raw is crisp and sizzling, while cooked ones are more
chewy. Additionally, raw ubagai has a sweet, fresh flavour,
whereas cooked version lacks this. |
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Sushi ginger (refreshment after a piece of
sushi, the chef will refill it) |
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Ôtoro (strong fatty tuna) |
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Chûtoro (medium fatty tuna) |
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Sushi rolls (amberjack and tuna) |
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| The Fruits and Vegetables Building covers about 97,000
square metres and is dedicated to distributing fresh produce
form across Japan and international imports. The market handles
about 1,000 tonnes of agricultural products daily, ranging from
common vegetables like cabbage and carrots to high-end matsutake
mushrooms. The market operates 24 hours a day, with new stock
arriving at midnight. Wholesale dealers begin auctions for
high-end products at 06:30, while other general items are sold
to restaurants through intermediate wholesalers or directly to
large supermarkets. |
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| On the 2/F of the Fruits and Vegetables Building, there's an
observation gallery where you can watch the Fruits and
Vegetables Market process through windows. The gallery ends at a
platform where visitors can watch the fruit and vegetable
auctions (which start at 06:30!). There are also display
showcasing seasonal fruits and vegetables. |
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In the centre of the platform hall is a 'takarabune' (宝船, treasure
boat). At the first auction held at the beginning of a year,
takarabune – boat-shapped vessels filled with fruits and
vegetables – are displayed to promote prosperous business in the
New Year. A takarabune is typically loaded with treasure such as
coral, gold, silver, and jewels, making it an auspicious vessel
and a popular lucky charm. |
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Gallery entrance of the Fruits and Vegetable
Building |
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Intermediate Wholesale Market for Fruits and
Vegetables |
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Introduction to Fixed Temperature Warehouse,
with Automated Storage and Retrieval System |
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Fixed Temperature Warehouse, with Automated
Storage and Retrieval System |
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Wholesale Market platform |
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Takarabune (treasure boat) |
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Seasonal fruits and vegetables |
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Spring: pea, plum, strawberry, bamboo shoot,
wasabi (Japanese horseradish), asparagus, etc |
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Summer: cherry, tomato, sweetcorn, Japanese
pear, peach, watermelon, etc |
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Autumn: aubergine, shiitake mushroom, chestnut,
broccoli, grape, carrot, sweet potato, etc |
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Winter: beetroot, spinach, taro, apple, mooli
radish, Chinese leaf, etc |
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Yurikamome Line train outside the Fruits and
Vegetables Building |
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Fisheries Intermediate Wholesale Market
Building |
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| After leaving the Fruits and Vegetables Building, I crossed
the footbridge to the Management Facilities Building. This is
the administrative building of the market, with no sales
operations, so there are no operational tours. However, there is
a PR Corner and dining area on the 3/F. The PR Corner introduces
the history of the market and occasionally hosts short-term
exhibitions. The omakase at Daiwa Sushi, with one serving per
person, didn't really fill Todd and me up, so after checking out
the PR Corner, we decided to choose another restaurant and have
another meal. |
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Inside the Management Facilities Building, well-known
restaurants include Tonkatsu Yachiyo (八千代) and Tsukiji Kagura
Sushi (つきぢ神楽寿司). Yachiyo, while famous for its tonkatsu
(schnitzel), also offers fried prawn, eel, and bamboo fish.
Mosuke Dango (茂助だんご), a well-known dessert shop, is another
famous restaurant. In addition to their dango (sticky rice
balls), their homemade adzuki bean paste and kanten (agar jelly)
are also highly regarded. Aside from sweets, they also offer
some savoury items, such as udon noodles and tamago soup (a type
of egg and rice cake soup). |
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It's really difficult to find high-quality sashimi in the UK, so
I decided to go with Kagura Sushi. However, Kagura Sushi already
has two branches in the Management Facilities Building, named
the 'Toyosu Market' branch and the 'Uogashi' branch, located at
opposite ends of the corridor. The menus seem to differ
slightly, but Todd preferred the shirako ponzu (code milt) at
the Uogashi branch, so we chose that one. |
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I ordered the Kamatoro Uni Don (カマトロ雲丹丼, extremely fatty tuna and sea urchin
rice bowl), while Todd ordered the shirako ponzu (白子ポン酢) and fresh
oysters. The restaurant also served a steamed uni dish as a
starter. Kamatoto is even fattier and more precious than the
ôtoro itself, with only about 2 inches of kamatoro per tuna
fish. 'Shirako' (白子) refers to the fish's milt, especially from
Pacific cod. Shirako ponzu (marinated shirako) is a dish where
the shirako is soaked in yuzu vinegar, typically enjoyed as a
side dish with alcohol. |
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The Toyosu Market mascot inside the PR Corner –
Itchiino (イッチーノ) |
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Kamatoro Uni Don (strong fatty tuna and sea
urchin rice bowl) |
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| After passing through the Management Facilities Building,
you would normally visit the Fisheries Wholesale Market
Building. However, we had already spent a fair amount of time at
Daiwa Sushi, and due to poor planning on my part, we didn't have
time to explore the rest of the market after eating. If you
really want to explore Toyosu Market and sample the food, it
could easily take the whole day. |
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| Since I had a car reservation for 12:00, we simply couldn't
spare any more time at Toyosu Market. We left the Management
Facilities Building and headed straight to the Yurikamome Line's
Shijômae (市場前) station to depart. |
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