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peregrinology · 5 years

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Toyosu market is the new Tsukiji… sort of, anyway.

Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji fish market closed in October 2018 and was relocated to Toyosu – a man made island south-east of the old site – to free up development space ahead of the 2020 Olympics. Lots of controversy surrounded the move – not least because it was discovered that, as well as being over budget and over programme, the new site was heavily polluted with things like benzine, cyanide and arsenic… (For those interested in more details, check out: https://www.eater.com/2017/7/25/16019906/tokyo-tsukiji-toyosu-olympics-delay). However, against the odds, the new facility opened on 11th October 2018 and replaced the old market, which had always been a popular spot for tourists wanting to view the early morning tuna auctions. Tuna of up to nearly 500kg can be sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds, the record being USD1.76 million!!! That’s a lot of sashimi.

A representation of one of the largest tuna to have been caught in Japanese waters and sold at Tsukiji market in 1986. 2.88m in length and 496kg!!

Tsukiji was hectic and bustling: forklift trucks sped around the narrow alleyways, the drivers shouting (with various degrees of politeness) to get out of the way, vendors selling their wares (you could buy direct from the stalls); you took your life in your hands as you wandered between the stalls and checked out the fish. When it was all over, you could walk a couple of hundred meters to the outer market and have sushi for breakfast among the discarded polystyrene ice packing boxes and general fish-related paraphernalia.

Toyosu is kind of the same… yet totally different. The timings are the same and you need to get there EARLY – I got the first metro at just after 5am, which got me to Toyosu around 5.45am (including the time it took me to walk when I got off at the wrong station… Note: Use Shijo-Mae station, not Toyosu…). It was already busy, so I headed straight to the auction area. You can still see the auctions, but you’re kept away from the heart of the action in an observation area on the first floor. You need to get a visitor pass (issued on a first-come, first-served basis, then it’s ‘one in, one out’, so you may have a short wait if you just miss out on one). There’s a new ground-floor viewing area opening on 15th January 2019, but for now, you’re limited to looking down on the action. Some people have been a bit derisive of the ‘lack of authenticity’ of the new facility, but the bonus of it is that you get a great view of the tuna all laid out on the floor, and you get to see the large scale hustle and bustle – there is literally always something going on to watch (also, it’s important to remember that this is a live fish auction and wholesale warehouse, rather than a tourist attraction, so let’s be honest… it’s a privilege rather than a right, that us tourists can view it in the first place). Tuna are being brought in, taken out, auctions are happening, inspections are happening etc – there is constant movement. There are also signs to explain the hand movements of the wholesalers buying the tuna, so if you’re really into it (and eagle-eyed) you can see which tuna go for which price!

An auction in progress – the guy in the grey top standing on the yellow crate is the auctioneer

That’s a lot of tuna! They have been caught up to three months prior, and frozen on the boat for bringing back to the market

The viewing corridor is lined with photos from the old Tsukiji market – this one is the New Year market (the first offering of the year of a food is considered good luck, and often increases the price above standard market value).

The viewing corridor of the new Toyosu facility

A sign explains the hand signals of the auctioneers and bidders

What comes from where in the market…

Market timescales… these guys start early!!

The wholesale side after the sale has been made

All you need is a visitor’s badge (free, first come first served) to access the viewing area.

A few of the restaurants from the old Tsukiji have relocated, but a lot still remain in the old outer market area. The new market has an unavoidably new feel, and it does all seem rather sanitised and slick in comparison. Which isn’t as bad as it may sound – it’s too early to be disparaging of the new facility from a tourist perspective: it’s a working market, not a tourist attraction. That said, it’s easy to forget that when it feels like you’re not really ‘in the thick of it’ like you used to be. There is plenty to see from the observation deck and, when the lower level viewing opens in January, you can get even closer to the action… You’ll even get to be at the same temperature as the auction floor (about 8 degrees Celsius)… Personally, since I can’t follow the action to too great a degree anyway, and I’d also rather be warm, the upstairs observation deck suited me just fine… The morning I was there, there was also a guy doing explanations – I’m not sure if he’s there all the time, or I just got lucky on the timing – but I felt I got more out of it listening to him than I would have done just wandering around on my own. For instance, the floors in the new market are green, so that the wholesalers (around 100 of whom are the ones authorised to buy direct from this market) can see the red flesh of the tuna (and thus the quality) better.

I wandered through the fish market after the auction; again, there is plenty to see and wow over, and it feels slightly less hectic than the old market at Tsukiji, but to be totally honest, I didn’t spend that much time here. My priority had become eating, and the outer market area at the old site is still open… I wanted to go and explore there again and, since the sun was up by then, I walked over the wharf area and Sumida River in the morning sunrise to meet Jamie and Hugo for a sushi breakfast…. there is literally no better way to start the day than with some raw fish!!

Sumida RIver

Looking towards Southern Tokyo

Tokyo at dawn

We worked on the principle that nowhere was going to be awful, and picked the place with the friendliest person outside their restaurant, and we weren’t disappointed! The Tsukiji Sushi Sen lady was really friendly, and the sushi was really good! We went for two selections: a general one (prawn, tuna, salmon, salmon roe, scallop, tuna, and omelette) and a tuna one (fatty, belly, seared, and normal), then picked a few extras that we fancied (horse mackerel, sea urchin, and seared horse meat). We got a chawanmushi (savoury egg custard) and a prawn head miso soup to accompany.

Horse mackerel, sea urchin, and seared horse meat

Tuna selection

Chawanmushi

Prawn head miso soup

Sushi selection

Then it was off to explore the outer market. There’s plenty of street food, and plenty of samples. We tried less than we’d expected to, having over-indulged at breakfast, but did manage a few treats… The first – and yet hardest won of the day – was definitely a matcha green tea mochi (rice ball) stuffed with a fresh strawberry; I had to wait for three older ladies to negotiate their increasingly large orders of dried squid jerky… at one point one of them started to try the pickles that were also for sale and I considered letting my patience get the better of me…. but for once I didn’t, and managed to stick it out to get the mochi, but it definitely took longer to buy it than eat it…

A moment of silence for the mochi that triumphed over my impatience please…

There is plenty in the way of grilled fish on offer; scallops are our favourite, but eel, prawns, salmon and many others are also on every corner, as well as wagyu beef, the ubiquitous pickles and cured products, and desserts. The cool thing is that you get to see so much of it being prepared. You can see matcha being ground from green tea leaves, bonito flakes being shaved from the smoked fish fillet, oysters being shucked and grilled in front of you, and sushi rolls being made and – like the Nishiki market in Kyoto (45. Street Food Tour; Nishiki Market, Kyoto), it just adds an extra dimension to your snack.

Cutting the fresh tuna for sashimi

Octopus, squid, scallops and prawns ready for the grill…

On the grill…

Fish packed and ready to go!

There were little hidden corridors all over the place!

Fresh shellfish

Fresh fish

Fishcakes on sticks

Preserved and cured products

That’s a big selection of mushrooms

Bonito flakes – freshly flaked on site!

There are also plenty of non-food items here – mainly knives, it has to be said…. And boy, do they have some knives!! One day… but not this trip. This trip, I settled for some matcha (powdered green tea) in a lovely tin!

Knives…

More knives…

The green tea (and seaweed) shop

We also stopped for a taste of sake; two different ones, in fact. A ‘raw’ one, and a ‘premium’ one. The premium one being made only with the very centre of the polished rice grain, the raw one being partially-fermented and cloudy in appearance; you could definitely taste the yeast, and I couldn’t help but compare the difference to a pilsner vs a wheat beer. And talking of beer, we also stopped to try some of the Asahi brewery’s offerings…

The sake shop

A choice of 4 for tasting

Some very fancy sakes here…

The shop was lovely and had all kinds of artisan foods to accompany the sake!

The sake – premium on the left, raw on the right

The Asahi Brewery stall

Asahi

Anyway, the upshot of the early start was that it is still totally worth getting out of bed at a hideous hour to see the tuna auction – especially if you’ve never seen it – but equally, you should still head over to the old Tsukiji outer market for breakfast afterwards, you wont be disappointed!

48. Toyosu Fish Market, Tokyo (the ‘New Tsukiji’) Toyosu market is the new Tsukiji... sort of, anyway. Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji fish market closed in October 2018 and was relocated to Toyosu - a man made island south-east of the old site - to free up development space ahead of the 2020 Olympics.

#Asia #Fish #Fish Market #Food #Food and Drink #Japan #Market Food #Markets #Seafood #Street Food #Tokyo #Toyoso #Travel #Tsukiji #Tuna

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recentanimenews · 6 years

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Fall in Love with These citrus Real Life Locations

After three months of sour heartaches, bitter romantic rivals, and a whole lot of messy step-sister drama, citrus finally came to its surprisingly sweet conclusion last weekend.

Seeing the unruly gyaru, Yuzu, and the opaque and straightforward student council president, Mei, who unwantedly became step-sisters overnight, finally figuring out their feelings for each other has been quite an unpredictable ride, making citrus one of the most thrilling yuri anime these past few seasons. And while the step-sisters’ problematic romantic relationship was always in the foreground of the show, citrus also had some notably nice backgrounds to look at. That being said, the time is ripe for a real-life locations comparison article about citrus!

Right at the start of the first episode, we see Mei walking in front of the Harumio Bridge (not named after Harumi from the show) and the towers of Odaiba’s Rainbow Bridge in the back, meaning that she is in Toyosu. While not nearly as popular and well-known as Odaiba, Toyosu is also a man-made island in Tokyo. The city's famed Tsukiji fish market is set to relocate to Toyosu at the end of this year, after its original move was postponed in 2016 due to dangerous chemicals in the ground and ballooning construction costs.

To the right is the Toyosu Civic Center, and to the left is the end of the Yurikamome Line (not chosen because it has yuri in the name, probably), which is a fully automated, elevated train. If you’re ever in the area, do yourself a favor and ride the Yurikamome Line all the way from Toyosu to Shimbashi, as you’ll pass over the famous Rainbow Bridge and get to see all of Odaiba’s attractions. Make sure to sit at the very front of the automated train.

The closest train station from Yuzu’s new home is Toyosu Station, which has also been faithfully carried over to the anime.

It was also possible to make out the location of Yuzu’s new apartment from her way back home. The red building to the left is the Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital, and one of the aerial shots in the anime revealed that her apartment complex is the building right next to the hospital.

Unfortunately, the stately apartment complex does not exist in real life, at least not yet.

This particular scene in front of Toyosu Station in the second episode helped to further establish Yuzu’s clumsy character, as she trips over this fountain. But in her defense, that small protruding and unnecessary strip here can easily be missed.

And it’s only a few centimeters high.

I should have sorted my reference shots for citrus beforehand, as it was always a bit risky to look at my screenshots in public.

Toyosu’s main attraction is the large Lalaport shopping mall, which is located right by the waterfront you see in the first picture.

Just across the street is where Matsuri forces a kiss upon Yuzu to get Mei jealous. Nothing of the sort happened when I was waiting at the intersection. The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics ad on the construction site has been changed to Tokyo Heisei 32 in the anime.

Since Yuzu and Mei live close by, they can easily take the Yurikamome Line to Daiba Station here.

The anime station matches its real-life counterpart perfectly.

Yuzu and Matsuri meet up at the station for their date in Odaiba.

Without wasting any time, they head straight to the large Aqua City shopping mall, which was renamed Ocean City in the anime, ignoring the spectacular view of the Rainbow Bridge and the small-scale copy of the Statue of Liberty in front of the shopping mall.

Being true to its name, Aqua City is not only located right next to the sea, but also contains various small aquariums.

One of the mall’s most interesting facts is, that it apparently contains Odaiba’s only Shinto shrine, which I stumbled upon on the rooftop by total coincidence, as it can only be accessed by a separate special elevator on the sixth floor.

The anime unfortunately only showed the mall’s conventional information counter, but located right next to it is one of Toshiba’s multilingual androids. The lifelike robot is called ChihiraJunco, and is able to give information about the mall and waterfront in three different languages. Unfortunately, the robot was not able to give me any information about citrus locations in the area.

After Matsuri takes her leave, Yuzu and Mei head to the nearby bus station, where the two share an intimate moment together while waiting in the snow. Luckily for them, the bus station had a roof and bench in the anime, which were missing in real life.

But instead of waiting outside in the cold, the two could have also taken the train back again.

And to top it off, citrus ends with the ever-popular Kyoto school trip arc. Whenever these come up in anime, the first thing our protagonists see is usually the Kyoto Tower across Kyoto Station, which is probably the only one able to rival the Tokyo Tower in anime appearances.

And just like in last year’s Tsukigakirei, the school trip's first destination is the world famous Kiyomizudera Temple, located in the hills east of Kyoto. Pictured here is the iconic view of Kiyomizudera’s wooden veranda that juts out from its main hall.

A trip to the famous Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) also shouldn’t be missed, as it also appeared in numerous other school trip episodes, like in K-On!!, Keijo!!!!!!!!, or Seitokai Yakuindomo.

Yuzu could’ve also been able to spot a few tengus dining atop the building in front of her, while she was walking across Shijo Bridge.

But instead, she heads straight to the famous Yasaka Shrine, which was founded as early as 656, and is also known as a spiritual spot for romantic blessings, making it the perfect stage for citrus’ grand finale.

After chasing Mei through the whole of the adjacent Maruyama Park, Yuzu is finally able to catch up to her thanks to drop kicking her in this pathway behind the shrine, and gets to finally confess her feelings for her. The pathway illuminated with dozens of traditional Japanese lanterns behind the shrine was a great venue for citrus’ romantic climax.

What did you think of citrus? Do you think Yuzu and Mei make a good couple? Sound off in the comments below!

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Wilhelm is an anime tourist, who loves to search for and uncover the real-world spots he sees in anime. You can talk with him on Twitter @Surwill.

By: [email protected]

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