It was said that Tokyo fish markets date back to the 16th century to the beginning of Tokyo (known as Edo then). Known as Uogashi, riverside fish markets started when the first Tokugawa shogun invited fishermen from Osaka to supply seafood to Edo Castle. As Edo grew in size and population, the demand for seafood increased substantially. This led to the development of Uogashi at Nihombashi into a proper market. Successive developments saw the establishment of the markets in Tokyo as we know them today.

Officially known as the the Tokyo Central Wholesale Market, this market is supposedly the largest fish market in Japan and possibly the world. It is here that tonnes of seafood from all over the world change hands each trading day. This Wholesale Market is more popularly known as the Tsukiji Fish Market. Here, in the early mornings, you can find all kinds of seafood ranging from seaweed to octopus.

Seafood are kept as fresh as possible either by keeping them alive or packed together with ice in styrofoam boxes. The highlight of the market begins in the wee hours of the morning at 5.30 am where the tuna auction starts. Lined neatly like torpedoes, the headless and tailess tuna carcasses are auctioned off to wholesalers who will in turn sell it to the restauranteurs and other retail buyers. The bidding is fast and furious with every sale being made under 10 seconds.

By 6.30 am, things become really busy at Tsukiji. The wholesalers claim their prized tuna and transport the tuna to their' respective stalls for cutting and packing. It takes at least two men to lift a tuna onto a wooden cart (or Karuko in Japanese) and transport them to their stalls in the Market. The pace is frenzied with cars and carts whizzing past each other and if you're a visitor, be careful, you might just get run over! Big saws, huge picks and knives are used to divvy up the tuna to more manageable sizes for packing and displaying.

At around 7am the retail shoppers would start to stream in to choose the choicest seafood for their restaurants or their home. By 9 am, the market becomes quieter and most restaurants around Tsukiji would be open for business. This is a good time to try out some really fresh sashimi and sushi at the amazing Tsukiji market.