At as early as five o'clock in the morning when it is still dark outside, lively middlemen shouting excitedly after the ringing of the bells which started to echo throughout the site where a tuna auction was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, popularly known as the Tsukiji Fish Market on the morning of January 5th, a week after the last business day of 2011, which has successfully welcomed in the first transaction morning of a new year, the year of 2012. The vigorous yells which traditionally represent inviting good luck and the transaction result of the first auction for the year have been often said to predict how business will be for the year, encouraging more prosperity at the market. We love to hear their spirited shouts.

It often happens that a big middleman bids an unexpectedly high price for the first catch on the first auction day as a congratulatory quotation for stirring up the market without taking making a profit into account which has been highly appreciated as a sophisticated sense of old business culture in Edo (old Tokyo).

As the number of wealthy Chinese people who have been enjoying the best quality of tuna (especially for 'sushi') has been increasing, Mr. Ricky Cheng, a famous Chinese 'sushi' restaurant owner from Hong Kong who is popularly called a 'Chinese 'Sushi' Prince in Japan, has come to participate in the auctions of which he has won in 'hot' bidding sessions these last four years, but the situation was different this year after the unexpected natural disasters in the Tohoku District last year.
Mr. Kiyoshi Kimura, an owner of 'Sushizanmai'(literally 'sushi' spree) 'sushi' restaurants group made a surprisingly successful bid for a beautiful giant tuna from Oma in the Tohoku District weighing more than 269kg for an astronomical price, 56.49 million yen (744 thousand U.S dollars and/or 576 thousand euro) on the day, which has set a record high price and his competitor, Mr. 'Sushi' Prince left the auction site claiming that the highest bid in history was simply an impossible price for a single tuna (220,000 yen per kilogram).
Oma is located at the tip of the Shimokita Peninsula where the Tsugaru Strait is the best fishing ground where the two currents meet from the Japan Sea and the Pacific Ocean in the Tohoku District. Tuna caught by Oma fishermen is famous for its meat marbleized with moderate fat of the best quality on top of its freshness and chewing texture.

A thinly sliced piece 'sushi' from the fatty part of this tuna (O-toro in Japanese) cost \15,000 (192 U.S. dollars and/or 153 euro) if it had been simply converted in the purchasing cost, but of course, Mr. “Sushi” Spree, an astute business man with a big purse and a big, big heart, let customers with big stomachs including those who drove a long way from remote cities who had been waiting outside in a long queue in the cold early morning into a warm restaurant, entertained them with very fresh tuna 'sushi' and hot strong green tea or hot 'sake' at a regular price of around 130 to 420 yen a piece as usual. All the customers at the restaurant were able to experience some energetic supreme bliss that allowed them their own course of life for the rest of the day.

A great pleasure in travelling is needless to say what to eat, which is more or less common with every tourist, especially those who never stop looking for the real taste of real 'food'. If you are a 'sushi' enthusiast it is definitely Japan and if you are in Tokyo it is Tsukiji that you should visit at any cost, which is partly due to the fact that many Japanese customers who have thoroughly acquired a delicate palate for fish and an eye for it as well especially tuna caught in coastal fishery always require 'sushi' restaurants of better quality.
And you can enjoy different presentations at a variety of 'sushi' restaurants from Kyubei 'sushi' in Ginza which has received one star in the Michelin Guide in 2008 to conveyor belt 'sushi' bars serving superb 'sushi' which are generally located near the fish market at a reasonable price.

Thanks to the advanced seawater aquaculture in Japan, we can preserve the ocean environment today though Japan was once criticized for having bought up tuna from all over the world in violation of the Washington Convention. The method to hatch tuna fry from roe before releasing them into the ocean was first invented in Kushimoto in Wakayama Prefecture in 2002 after 32 years of hard work, which was completely different from catching natural baby tuna to cultivate. When it came to thinking about preserving marine resources seriously, an integrated system for tuna aquaculture was necessary. Now, this epoch-making method has been introduced into Okinawa, Amami Oshima Island, and Nagasaki in Kyushu.

By the way, if you are interested in visiting the tuna auction which is held at Tsukiji Fish Market, please don't forget to check the rules as well as the schedule with us since they don't necessarily allow us to enter the premises every day. We don't want to shake you awake at four o'clock in the morning for nothing. In the Tsukiji area, there are tens of good 'sushi' restaurants including Sushizanmai some of which are open 24 hours a day, and if you should drop into a restaurant at good timing, you can have an opportunity to take some good shots of an exciting show of a huge tuna being gutted with the use of a long saw.

Japan is a heaven for those who know that Kobe is to beef what Oma is to tuna.
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