How to Enjoy Tsukiji Outer Market

Tsukiji Outer Market is known as “Tsukiji Jogai Shijyo (築地場外市場). Shijyo (市場) means market. The market have been transferred to Toyosu (豊洲) in 2018. Even now, there are a lot of professional stores out of the market where many tourists visit to see. You mustn’t miss this market if you have time for a half day when you visit Tokyo. Today, I’m going to share how to enjoy the outer market. Let’s get started. 

When is The Best Time to Go? 

Generally speaking, you might want to go to the market from around 9:00 to 11:00. It is supposed to be for a professional buyer’s time before 9:00A.M., and most stores are closed after 3P.M. Since there are more than 400 stores here, it takes three or four hours at least. 

https://www.tsukiji.or.jp/assets/pdf/access_map_en.pdf

Let’s Stroll and Grab Foods

One of the most popular attractions in the market is going on a walk-and-eat tour. You can see a lot of seafood here. You might not like raw seafood but don’t worry. I’ve got you covered. I’ll let you know about 

First things first, let’s eat Wagyu. I’m not going to say what Wagyu is here. The big difference between Wagyu and American beef is marbled meat. There are a lot of white lines on the surface. The meat melts in your mouth, but it’s not oily. You can eat more than you thought. 

Next, let’s have Wagyu sushi. You might think that beef is not suitable for sushi topping, but actually, fresh raw beef meat is best with sushi and a rice ball. Just grab sushi instead of using chopsticks. That’s the local way to eat sushi. Don’t forget to bring hand wipes. 

https://tsukiji-ushitake.com

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ftpLaPRcsknBF4AT9?g_st=ic

What about a short break to drink some alcohol?

This bar offers a special selection of natural organic wine. It also offers sake and craft beers as well. You can enjoy “tachi-nomi “ (立ち飲み) style here. Tachi-nomi? This is the local style of enjoying drinking at bars in Japan. Tachi-nomi bars have no seats, so you have to stand while drinking. People have a couple of types of sake and some snacks while chatting with strangers. You might get to know people who have a good knowledge of Japanese culture here. As there’s no seat, people usually don’t stay for a long time. I think the short stay is a cool thing, as local people, that after drinking a couple of kinds of sake, you go to the next bar. 

https://www.instagram.com/shubiduba.tsukiji?igsh=MTJ0MnR1NmRqMXA0Mg==

Maguro (鮪、マグロ、まぐろ), or tuna meat, is one of the most popular seafoods in Japan. Recently it’s getting popular in the world. Not only do you eat tuna  sashimi or sushi, but also grilled and steamed. In my opinion, more restaurants offer good quality maguro in Kanto areas than in Kansai at affordable prices. Toro (トロ) has more fat than is called for different parts of Maguro. O-toro or Chu-toro means it has more fat. These toro literally melt in your mouth. It tastes like Wagyu rather than fish meat. 

Thanks for writing this article. I had come to be able to know about maguro more. I read Wikipedia. It says people have eaten maguro since the Joymon era (縄文時代), around 12,000 years ago. However, it was not popular for Japanese people until more than 300 years ago. This is because it easily goes bad, so food connoisseurs didn’t appreciate it as top-quality food. Around 300 years ago, in the Edo era, people invented a cooking method called “zuke” (ヅケ), in which maguro was soaked in soy sauce, sake, and sugar to prevent being perishable. In that way, zuke-maguro lasted for a long time. 

Thanks to frozen food technology, it’s been getting popular among common people now. You might feel that frozen fish is not delicious, but it isn’t necessarily true. A special skill is necessary to defrost frozen magro because frozen food emits a thawing drip when it defrosts. That is why defrosted food doesn’t taste good. 

Many professional chefs are here, you can enjoy sashimi, sushi, Kushi-barbecue, steak, grilled one and simmered one. 

Tamago-yaki

What is tamago-Yaki (玉子焼き)?  It’s a Japanese omelet. It tastes like dashi, which is a fishbone stock that is savory and a bit sweet. Fresh-cooked tamago-yaki is fluffy and delicious. You can have a long waiting line for it. If you are lucky, you might see how the chef cooks it. My recommendation is below.

山長
http://www.yamachou-matue.jp/about01.html
丸武
https://www.tsukiji-marutake.com/shop/#g_map

Are you going to have some sweets? This matcha stand offers freshly brewed ones. You can recognize how different it is. There is a long waiting line on weekends. 

https://matchastandmaruni.com/?fbclid=PAAaaGtqRhrK3FLBbcEC2WIk-2_VjGvufirxvQlN6_5OtDc4aiMnWrRAfx-Bk_aem_AWcFveJ5Mf1DActws0QCa9RnLpoaYuj3e1EZ3zrRiYROFFvoVcnhrG2OnVqElwTo8fc

When you get a bit tired, you can take a break here for free. It is situated on the rooftop of the building. 

Please remember to put your trash into a bin instead of leaving leftovers. There’s a few cleaning staff. By doing that, the following people use it on a good note.

https://www.tsukiji.or.jp/english/

It’s getting dark. Let’s go back to the hotel. 

How was it? If you stay in Tokyo, it is worth spending time here for a while. It’s enough to have a half day or four hours. You can enjoy fresh and delicious food. Since there are crowds in the narrow streets, it’s not supposed to carry around with your food and drinks. So you can eat around the store. After eating it, you can return your trash to the store if you don’t find any trash bin. You can just say, “sumimasen,” and point out your trash. Then staff will receive it. Thank you for reading my article to the end. See you in my next article soon!