“Fins Can Only Get Batter”

Outside the train station, the outer market is crowded with mostly tourists. It is fair to say that along the small streets lining the market, I am literally packed like a sardine. There are many small food stores selling fish caught fresh this morning, and the smell of fish is pleasant and anything but overpowering. The freshness of the food here can really be noted. Buckets of huge tuna sit soaked in blood and ice. Live crabs try to escape their fate by crawling from weighing scales, and the hustle and bustle of the market is present at every turn. I wander the outer market and into what looks like a giant warehouse. This is the wholesale section of the market, and the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. People carrying huge white polystyrene boxes of frozen fish cruise past on electric bikes. Tuna that costs more than a house is on sale and on display. People are rushing. Market traders are yelling. It is all a bit overwhelming. I wander the entire length of the wholesale market; which takes about twenty minutes at a hurried pace. At the other side of the market, there is a nice shrine. Here I pay ¥ 200 and receive my fortune. It says something about fish.