Yamaso-Oyster Wholesaler at Ota Shijo

So, where to buy raw oysters year-round in Tokyo? When the great oyster bar bargains are over, and if you can shuck your own oysters, Yamaso is the place.
This oyster wholesaler sits right in the Suisan-to, or the warehouse like building for handling the marine products, at the Ota Shijo. They specialize in imported [...]

Ota Wholesale Market: A Great Tsukiji Alternative

Back in the midst of the Norovirus scare that spread across the whole nation, we went ahead and planned an oyster dinner for some friends at home anyway. But during that winter of 2007 it appeared that raw oysters had simply disappeared completely from markets and restaurants because a health report from the government somewhat [...]

Is Tsukiji Wholesale Market Open to the Public?

Photo: Sign at Tsukiji
A while back,I picked up a printed Tsukiji Vistor’s Guide in English issued by Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale market at Tsukiji Seimon entrance. After searching for an official site listing the actual rules for visiting Tsukiji and I could not find any, so I went back to the brochure.
The brochure brings [...]

My Harbor: Kaminokae, Kochi

View of Nakatosa

Kami-no-kae in the town of Nakatosa sits right on the Pacific coast of Shikoku between Kochi City and the Shimanto River. It’s a tiny fishing village that is almost off the map: our car navigation system said it wasn’t there even though it had successfully guided us up and down mountain roads barely [...]

3,000 Tuna A Day At Tsukiji

At Tsukiji

While I was working on a post about Tsukiji for Nihon Sun, I got really curious about how much seafood moves through that giant market each day.
Finding the monthly sales results at Tsukiji was easy. It’s a matter of public information and the Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market publishes the data monthly. So, I looked [...]

Omicho Ichiba in Kanazawa

Omicho Ichiba

Omicho Ichiba is a must see for foodies if you are visiting Kanazawa. But, I hope you don’t make the same mistake I made if you are planning to go there! On my recent visit to Kanazawa in March, I almost missed the one thing I really really wanted to see, the market.
After [...]

Wajima Morning Market – Continued

Aside from the old ladies that make the Wajima asa-ichi so different from any other markets you see around Japan, the variety of seafood at the market is quite different too, even different from Kanazawa’s nearby Omicho Market. I imagine most of the items you see on the street in this little coastal town haven’t [...]

Wajima Morning Market

The morning market in Wajima, a small city in the middle of the Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa, reminded me of colorful markets I visited so many years ago in Las Paz. Ladies at Wajima asa-ichi do not wear tall hats nor do they braid their hair. Besides the rather gray and quiet market does not [...]