Hiya..
It was a really interesting Saturday morning, went to Tsukiji and Ginza on Saturday. Tsukiji was such a cool experience because I have never seen so many animals from all over the world. I saw the reddest garoupa in a tank (red is an auspicious colour), with live squid next to it, pufferfish (fugu I think) piled up, frozen tuna as bigger than a german shepard piled up, live lobsters scuttling in sawdust trays, crabs, live abalone, sea urchins, rainbow prawns,octopus (dead, they are too intelligent to deal with alive) gigantic clams still squirting water and their squishy bodies breathing, barrels full of squirming needle eels, long eels, more fish…
The first thing that I noticed before I walked in was that this is the first fish market that smells like the ocean and not fish. A lot of the sea creatures there are not indigenous to Japan but some are from tropical oceans in Asia. Also the scale of it was mind-blowing because maybe 2 days ago, the fishes could have been still swimming in Asia but this morning they were in Tokyo (not a good way to see the world). So behind this concrete market with its pockmarked concrete floors and puddles everywhere is a network of fishermen, middlemen, dealers, shipping, air shipping, and of course people with the means to keep a fish alive for 2 days in a plane.
Pretty mind-blowing, especially when you see the size and numbers of uber-high quality fish in the market, but once you see the amount of tuna being eaten everyday in the Tokyo restaurants, sushi joints, kaiten sushi etc, it makes sense. But it also made me wonder how much of Malaysia and Indonesia’s reefs are being harvested, and how can the reefs be sustained by such large scale consumption?
So over my breakfast of tuna and rice, I pondered some issues, not including the over-consumption of apex predators such as the tuna and the impact of its loss on the ocean’s ecology.
The stores were still closed so I walked to the Imperial Palace. It was a foreign invasion of another kind, the invasion of the Japanese palace by Koreans, Chinese and their own Japanese countrymen! They came in their hordes, led by generals in cream A-line miniskirts and blouses, waving flags and shooting with digital and disposable cameras. Swarming on fences, scenic vistas and marching through pedestrian crossings before bundling back into their vehicles of war – the coach buses.
The Malaysian army in comparison was small, consisting of a single individual on foot.
I also found a totally amazing building, the Tokyo International Design Forum (its an architectural thing) and made my way to the Sony shop where I abused Aibo and pulled his poly-synthetic tail. Gotta say, I’ve never seen so many 20-something white guys go straight to the Playstation level and start discussing the merits of a video game in great detail. Also the only level where little kids can leave dad for the day. I actually didn’t like Ginza much because they all sold these pink fairy dresses and pointy high-heels and I can’t afford to buy any of the clothes anyway. I listened to some music at the Apple store and another cd shop and I made myself a key chain at the Nissan showroom that now hangs on the keyhole of my front door.
The population of Ginza during the day was roughly 95% middle-aged women, 3% Japanese husbands (they are the ones in charge of carrying the kids) and 2% foreign tourists.
Got home all tired but strangely satiated. Dunno where to go next weekend, but I still haven’t seen the Yokohama International Terminal(its an archi thing), Kamakura and Chiba. Less than 2 months to go…
Touristy Shi.