Nara & Tokyo | Japan, Part 2 of 3

We were to begin the day in Kyoto and end it in Tokyo. What happened in between was still up for debate. My original plan was to sneak in a side trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima, but the substantial detour southward was enough to make us think twice. Instead, we headed to the little town of Nara, famous for its wild deer that roam the streets. Three cities, one day? It was par for the course at this point.

And so, this is the post in which we meet and befriend deer in Nara and get an unsanctioned behind the scenes tour of world famous Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo.

On our way to the park, we got sidetracked by this green tea mochi shop. They were making the mochi fresh on the spot.

Green tea, red bean filling, and peanut dusting on the outside? It might be too much goodness packed in one mochi.

Throughout the trip, we had seen hints of left over snow, but nothing substantial coming down. I wished aloud for a visible set of flurries, just so I could see it snow in Japan (having lived in California now for over five years, it’s novel again). And lo and behold, I got my exact wish. It snowed for just a couple minutes, and then it was done. Meanwhile, we meet our first deer.

Deer whispers.

They might be cute, but they’re not the smartest… this one eats a tissue.

This one volunteered to sweep the streets.

Ho Chie gathers a herd, and then we cross the street, using the crosswalk, on green.

I have a little chat with this one.

Too. cute.

Walking back to the train station, we pick up a set of takoyaki– squid balls. Delicious, and perfect for this very cold day.

Fast forward through our train rides back to Kyoto and then up to Tokyo. We checked into our hotel, and then we were off to Tsukiji Fish Market at 3 o’clock in the morning. It was one of Jesse’s foodie dreams to visit this world-famous fish market, and he arranged an unsanctioned tour for us with awesome tour guide, Naoto Nakamura. It’s unsanctioned because the market has been overrun with eager tourists recently, so the Tokyo government has been cutting down on access. Not to worry. Naoto-san deftly led us through all the different parts of the market, all while managing not to get caught by the many guards stationed around the market.

Tsukiji is the largest wholesale fish market in the world and particularly famous for its tuna auctions, which sometimes yield record sales like the $1.76 million USD paid for a bluefin tuna just one month before. This an overhead view of the bustling market from a parking garage next door.

A glimpse at some of the tuna being prepared for auction. This is exactly the part of the market you’re not supposed to wander around.

Along with fresh tuna, frozen tuna are also auctioned. It was somewhat hilarious to see the frozen carcasses kicked off the trucks, bouncing off the tire and being rolled into the garage. This is supermarket-grade sushi we eat.

The market is organized chaos. Little forklift carts are whizzing by at top speeds everywhere you turn. My strategy was just to walk as closely to Naoto-san as humanly possible.

Our tour finished just before 5am, which meant perfect timing to go to Sushi-Dai just as it opened. It’s one of the most popular sushi restaurants located in the market. And when I say perfect timing, I really mean perfect, as they only have fourteen seats in the restaurant, and we were the last three to make the cut. We would have had to wait another hour had we been part of the second batch.

That’s as fresh as fresh can be!

After some nap time back in the hotel, we headed out to explore Harajuku and Shibuya in Tokyo. Here’s the famous Shibuya crossing, where the crosswalks go in all directions at the same time. It looks like Times Square but more impressive.