The new place for fish and veggies - Toyosu Fish Market

After years and years of debate, promises, arguments, and delays, the fish market finally left Tsukiji in October 2018 and opened in Toyosu.  Part of me never thought it was going to happen.  Japan has a very interesting dichotomy of being on the foreground of technical innovation with a firm belief of  "this is the way it has always been done, so we continue to do it this way."  Oh, and there was also the discovery of soil contamination in Toyosu that had to be cleaned up before the market could move. 

But in just two years of work, they cleaned it; made vendors accept the change in location; and built the new facilities.  In October, more than 600 vendors moved their businesses to Toyosu.

We stayed away from the crowds when the new market first opened, but headed there today to check it out. 

Typically we are up and out the door super early, but not today.  We had a relaxed morning and left after 9 am.  We had to take both the train and a bus to get there, which took just over an hour.  There are trains that go there, but our fastest option involved a bus.

As soon as we arrived, I noticed the large, short buildings with raised walkways between the buildings.  Since tourists are no longer allowed on the market floor, they look down on the market from observation decks above the action.

We decided to start our adventure in the produce building.  Once inside, I was immediately impressed with how they took this functioning wholesale market and integrated many museum-like qualities.  They had lots of signs around that provided interesting information about the history of the market (the produce market has been around since the early Edo era, the 1600's; while the fish market dates back to 1644), the workings of the modern market, and details about the merchandise. 

To help out visitors from all over the world, there was an app anyone could download that would provide translations and information in 15 different languages. 

I was interested to learn that the top vegetables traded in the market are: cabbage, Japanese radish (daikon), and onions.  I was not surprised to learn that eating citrus (defined as satsumas, but in Japanese they clarified), cooking citrus (like lemons, yuzu, and sudachi that you don't eat), and apples were the most traded fruit.  But I was surprised to learn that watermelon outsold bananas, Japanese pears (nashi), and strawberries!  Watermelon is really, really popular here.  I just didn't realize how much because I almost never buy it.  In my house, pineapple definitely outranks watermelon.

There wasn't a ton of action happening on the warehouse floor because we were there "so late."  It turns out that everyone is pretty much done with buying and trading produce before lunchtime.  We didn't mind.  It was still neat looking down all the rows (labeled on the observation floor like streets after produce) and the main intake floor.

Up next we walked over to the wholesale fish market.  We knew we weren't going to see much action here since we arrived at the market after 9 am.  In fact, the whole market is all wrapped up and ready for the next day by 1 pm every day!  I got up many, many years ago and got myself to Tsukiji to see the fish auction.  I don't need to get my 5 year old out the door by 4 am to do it again.  It is an amazing sight to been seen, but not one that I need to repeat unless I had some VERY eager guests.

Since the wholesale fish market was similarly signed to the produce market, we still learned a lot and didn't feel like it was a wasted visit.  Plus, being able to compare Tsukiji to Toyosu was really interesting for me.  Tsukiji was dark, with low ceilings, and very crowded.  Toyosu, on the other hand, was light, clean, and spacious.  I would like to come back someday to be able to look down on the working market because I do like seeing all the interesting seafood that glows through the market.

Finally, we walked over to the retail market.  This final building is for all the tourists to actually buy things!  There is a restaurant area that we walked through, but were not interesting in waiting in very long lines to eat.  I think the biggest restaurant sat less than 25 people at a time.  You don't get much fresher than these restaurants, unless you're on a boat with a tiny garden on it.

There is also a shopping section that sells gifts, market merchandise, and, of course, food!  We liked wandering around the halls, looking at everything that was for sale.  We bought a couple treats including my son's favorite tamagoyaki and datemaki (a sweet rolled omelet).

I know Toyosu is shiny and new, but it is also so impressive.  I felt a bit like a student, absorbing information and details, as I wondered around.  Knowing where my food comes from has always been a passion of mine, so getting this peek behind the scenes is pretty neat.