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[SERIES] STUDENTS'CORNER: Ways of Japan

Tsukiji Market

Japanese


One small corner of the vast Tsukiji Market
Tsukiji Market covers an area of some 230,000 square meters (23 hectares) in central Chuo Ward, Tokyo. It handles around 2,000 tons of marine products per day, making it one of the world's biggest fish and seafood markets by volume of trade.

Tsukiji, after which the Market takes its name, is located near the mouth of the Sumida-gawa river that flows into Tokyo Bay. The land was reclaimed from the sea during the Edo period (1603–1867), during which time the area was lined with the homes of samurai warriors. The current Tsukiji Market opened in 1935, when the fish market in Nihonbashi relocated there due to the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.


Frozen whole tuna lined up for auction
Tsukiji Market currently handles around 480 types of marine products and around 270 types of fruit and vegetables. The tuna auction observation area, where giant frozen tuna are lined up for wholesale, is a particularly popular early-morning destination among tourists both from Japan and overseas. In addition to admiring the many products on display at Tsukiji Market, visitors can also eat sushi and other things at restaurants located on the grounds.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is planning to relocate Tsukiji Fish Market to Toyosu, about one kilometer away, due to overcrowding on the current site and the aging of the facilities.

Note: Same-day registration is necessary to tour the wholesale tuna auction observation area. Registration starts at 5 a.m. at the Fish Information Center, with registration closing after access is granted to the first 120 people. Please be advised that if there are a lot of visitors, registration could end earlier.


Q1: Tsukiji Market's buildings form an arc. Why?

A. Because they were built around a railway station.

B. Because they were built around a park.

C. Because they were built around a castle.




Q2: There is a stone monument dedicated to a sushi-related food item at the Namiyoke Inari Jinja shrine next to Tsukiji Market. What is that item?

A. Rice

B. Eggs

C. Soy sauce





Answers
Q1: A. At one point, a Tokyo Market station was located in Tsukiji Market so that fish and vegetables could be unloaded directly from cargo containers. In order for an increasing number of freight trains to make a stop at the market, the station was constructed to form an arc. However, the station was closed in 1984 as trucks replaced trains for the transportation of cargo.
Q2: B. An omelette, made out of beaten chicken eggs that are cooked into a cylindrical shape, is one of the toppings for sushi. A labor union of egg-processing companies built this monument on the site of the shrine in 1993 as a form of gratitude to the egg, a memorial for eggs that have been used, and to draw attention to the remarkable qualities of the egg as a comestible.

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