DISTANCE: 5km (3 miles)
TIME: A half day
START: Tsukishima Station
END: Toyosu Station
POINTS TO NOTE: At the time of writing, the long-rumoured and controversial relocation of Tsukiji Fish Market (aka the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market) to Toyosu was on track for November 2016. Check the website before visiting to see if the move has happened yet, and also to make sure it’s open – there are often holidays in addition to the regular Sunday closing. Also note that Tsukiji has become so popular that rules for visitors have been introduced; if you do attend an auction, be aware that this is a place of business. For late risers, a visit to the market is still worth it, but note that the stalls start winding down at midday. Water-resistant, rubber-soled footwear is recommended. Toyosu is also the terminus for the futuristic Yurikamome monorail through Odaiba should you wish to visit that area in addition.
Tsukudajima
Meaning ‘Island of Cultivated Rice Fields’, the name Tsukudajima is a reference to the rural outskirts of Osaka, from where its first settlers came in the 17th century to work as primarily as fishermen, supplying the shogun’s kitchens with fish, but also as watchmen, keeping an eye on movements in Edo’s bay.
By the early Meiji period, Tsukudajima had been combined with the reclaimed islands of Ishikawajima to the north and Tsukishima to the south in one contiguous landfill. Spared the great fires of Edo and the earthquake that struck Tokyo in 1923, the island’s huddles of housing blocks, narrow alleyways full of potted plants and old-fashioned street-corner lift-pumps (some still in use) lend Tsukudajima its distinctive character. Many of the houses have traditionally crafted features, including black ceramic roofs, oxidised copper finials of an ancient green patina and well-seasoned wooden walls.
Freshly caught octopus
Nowitz Photography/Apa Publications
Tsukudako Bridge
Exit Tsukishima Station and head north to Tsukudako Bridge 1 [map] (Tsukudako-bashi), an attractive bridge with a red handrail that spans a narrow tidal inlet where you can get a modest insight into the former life of this quarter. The fishermen’s shacks and boathouses are less charmingly dilapidated than they were just a few years ago, and the number of their vessels is depleted. Nearby is the Chinese restaurant Ri Jan, see 1.
Sumiyoshi-jinja
In days of old, visitors to the island brought offerings of tsukudani to the Sumiyoshi-jinja shrine 2 [map], less than a minute’s walk away to the right and then to the left. Vestiges of the shrine’s role as a protector of sea travellers, fishermen and sailors can be seen in carvings on beams and transoms covering some of the small outer buildings. One particularly realistic relief on the roof of the well beside the shrine’s torii shows fishermen in a skiff, with firewood burning in a metal basket as they cast their nets into the bay at night. Continue north to find Tenyasu Honten 3 [map] (daily 9am–6pm), a charming shop selling one of the island’s best-known products – tsukudani (seaweed and fish preserve in a preparation of salt, soy sauce and sugar). A sampler box of six types of tsukudani, which tastes great with rice, costs ¥2,000.
Return to Tsukishima Station and take the subway three stops to Shijomae Station.
At the tuna auction
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market
Another rapidly developing bayside area built on landfill, Toyosu is the location of the ‘New Tsukiji’, more formally called the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market 4 [map] (Tokyo Chuo Oroshiurishijo; www.tsukiji-market.or.jp; Mon–Sat 3am–noon, check website for occasional holidays). The fish market at Tsukiji has long been famous and iconic, but will move from its former location in November 2016 (see Points to note) to its new home in Toyosu, after 80 years in its Tsukiji home, constructed in 1935 after the Great Kantō earthquake devastated much of central Tokyo, including the Nihonbashi fish market.
Examining fish at the market
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications
Tsukudako Bridge
Getty Images
This latest move has proved controversial after the detection of toxic chemicals on the new site prompted an expensive clean-up and delay to the target date. Nevertheless, the new market should be open for business by the end of 2016 in expanded modern facilities.
Wholesalers start laying out their stalls and preparing for the 5.30am tuna auction in the dead of night. The best cuts of these rock-hard fish, lined up like frozen sputniks and marked in red paint with their country of origin and weight, sell wholesale for as much as ¥10,000 per kilo, several times the price of the most expensive prime beef. At 7am the fruit and vegetable auctions start, and the action keeps buzzing until noon as vendors hawk some 450 different types of fish. Whether you visit in the morning or midday, top off your tour with a scrumptious meal of fresh sushi at one of the many seafood specialists located in the outer market.
Looking over high-rise Toyosu
Getty Images
Urban Dock LaLaport Toyosu
Should you have time, Toyosu is also home to the 21st-century retail experience that is Urban Dock LaLaport Toyosu 5 [map] (http://toyosu.lalaport.jp; daily 10am–9pm). Alongside the shops, restaurants and multiplex cinema here, you will find Ukiyo-e Tokyo (Tue–Fri noon–7pm, Sat–Sun 11am–7pm; charge), a small exhibition of traditional woodblock prints, and Kidzania Tokyo (www.kidzania.jp; daily 9am–3pm, 4–9pm; charge), an interior theme park where children get to run a small fantasy town and try their hands at more than 90 jobs.
Food and drink
1 Ri Jan
1-6-7 Tsukuda, Chuo-ku; tel: 3531 6631; daily 11.30am–2.30pm and 5–9.30pm; station: Tskukishima; ¥
Look for the ceramic pickling jars lined up outside this cosy Chinese restaurant beside the Tsukudako Bridge. They do a set lunch for ¥1,000.
2 Tsukiji Jisaku
14-19 Akashicho, Chuo-ku; tel: 3541 2391; www.jisaku.co.jp; Mon–Fri 5–10pm, Sat 11am–10pm, Sun 11am–6pm; station: Tsukiji; ¥¥¥¥
If you have guests to impress, come to this elegant, traditional mansion with manicured-garden views and waitresses in kimonos serving kaiseki ryori – Japanese haute cuisine.