Day 3 Japan

Sorry my posts from Japan has been a little lagging.

Day 3.  07/05/10

Woke up right at 3:30 AM with only one goal in mind: Tsukiji Fish Market Tuna Auction.

I found out that they only let 140 people in everyday. You have to get tickets at 4:30AM. There are no subways this early in the morning. So I had to pay a whopping ¥2960 to get there.

I was tenth in line at 4:00AM. When they started letting people in, they showed a movie of Tsukiji's history. Pretty informative.

Walked into the auction room and it was very awesome.

Inside, there are hundreds of Tuna laid on the floor. The bidders were coming around checking the tail section of the fish to see which one they would want to bid for and how much.

Right at 5:30 AM, the bells rang and they started their auction. It was very hectic and there was a lot of yelling. But after less than five minutes, it was all over. They had auctioned off all that fish using hand signals.

Afterward, I walked around in the market section. I saw three guys cutting up a huge tuna. Walked around a ton and checked out all the different fish.

Had sushi for breakfast for ¥1000. Yum!

Boarded a train (finally, cheap transportation again!) and boarded an 8:23 train at Shinjuku station. It was nuts! There were so many people packed in a train like sardines when I got on. They were only there for 2 stops though, then the trains were empty again.

I got onto a train to Kamagura and visited the Daibutsu (Large Buddha).

The cool part about it, is you can pay ¥20 to go inside the sculpture!

I visited the Hase Kanon. There were tons of votive offering sculptures there.
I sighted what I thought to be a crow but it was an eagle!.

Made my way back to Yokohama and visited the Ramen Musuem. I thought it was a disappointing experience because the main floor was just a few shops, but then I walked downstairs and found a real gem. All the restaurants were decorated to look like pre-modern Japan. I walked around checking out a bunch of stuff and then bought a bowl of Ramen (of course!)


Got on a Shinkansen. It was an incredible experience. It was very fast and surprisingly smooth. What a thrill it would be to drive one of these.

It had roomier seats and a lot more fun to look at the surrounding scenery.  There were both Western and Japanese style toilets. If you thought the airplanes toilets flush fast, wait till you flush one of these bad boys.

The train attendants were incredibly sweet. They don't bother the passengers. Before entering each car (and exiting) they would bow to everyone.


Got to Gifu (my next couchsurfing hosts). Met up with Miyuki at a local burger joint. I talked to her and Nobu, her husband, and found a lot in common. They made me a wonderful Italian/Japanese dish, I did the dishes. They took me to see the Japanese Commorant fishing. Very traditional fishing in Japan where there would be a boat, and a commander would have a rope on 6 birds, these birds dive in the water to catch the fish, and then they bring it up to the deck.

They brought me back. Lent me their computer and fan, it was nice to be around such kind people. My day has been a long one, but I'm ready for tomorrow's adventures.


Pete