Tsukiji Market - Something smells a little fishy!

At 5 in the morning in Tokyo, Tsukiji market, the biggest fish market in the world, is where the action is at. Fish is big business in Japan, especially Tuna, one of the staples of the Japanese diet, and the Tuna Auction, every morning at the crack of dawn, is the place to be.

So I set out at 3 a.m. from my hotel and headed for the market about an hour's walk away. Now it may seem like i was taking excessive measures considering I was headed for probably the smelliest place in Tokyo, but the auction is one of its kind in the world.

Arriving at around 4.15 I was pleased to find that i was easily one of the first 140 people that is allowed into the auction every morning. At around 4.45 we were handed information about how to conduct ourselves in the market as, until recently, all tourists were band from the auction due to bad behaviour. We were also given flourescent yellow overalls to wear, to prevent us from getting run over by the many small vehicles buzzing around the market.

When we entered the auction hall, there were many frozen Tuna laying in rows all over the floor, probably, yesterdays frozen catch, and many potential buyers going around checking the colors and the textures of the tuna at the tail end. This continued for a while until, suddenly, bells starting ringing and a few men started shouting a lot and making very strange gestures. Whether tuna was sold or not, I have no idea, but it was bloody amusing!

Fist, buy a Tuna:Then, chop it up:Then, sell it; simple!What the f**k are these?