Just before I left Tokyo I got a chance to visit the Tsukiji Fish Market which one of  the largest Fish Markets in the World.  It is enormous.  These picture do not do it justice.

These first three pictures give an idea of what the place looks like but it's hard to really get a feel for it because when there, looking down these rows they appear to be endless in all directions.

The market opens very early like around 4am and everything will be closed by around 10am.  I do not believe it is open on weekends.

It is also NOT a tourist attraction nor is it a market for the general population.  This is the place where restaurants, super markets and other commerical fish sellers buy and trade fish.

It is a very busy place and if you visit you'll need to try to keep out of the way as people are walking all over push big carts of fish all over the place.

We were told by one guide book to wear waterproof shoes because the areas are often hosed down and you are likely to get your feet wet.

Every type of fish imaginable seems to be available here in very large quantities.

These are Japanese scallops (Hotate).  The are many times larger than American scallops.  Nearly the size of 2 or 3 hamburger patties.

These are large slices of tuna (maguro).  Tuna is cut into different pieces kind of like beef.  Just like in beef you can get t-bone stakes and sirloin stakes etc.  The best piece of tuna is Toro which is from the belly area of the tuna.  It is SUPER DELICIOUS.  (sugoku oishii!)  I love it.  Good toro almost has a buttery taste.  It is very rich.  It can also be very very expensive.

These or whole tuna (well, minus the tail)

Sea cucumbers.  Yuck!

One one side of the market there are a several sushi restaurants.  They are open very early also and have some of the freshest fish you can get for a fairly reasonable price.

Here we are, Scott, Natsuko, Me, and Sang eating sushi at 6am.