We are spending the night of January 15 on the streets of Tokyo. We will be attending the tuna auction at Tsukiji Market at 2:00am so there is no point on getting a hostel for a few hours. We found a 24 hours restaurant where we had some food and hang out for most of the night. We walked to the market entrance to line up for the tuna auction. We were allowed inside a warm room after 3:00am and by 4:00am a bidder came to tell us a bit about what we were going to see. He explained how they auction the tuna and how the auctioneer and bidders have signs to get the bids, basically we will never know how much they pay for a tuna fish!
At 5:30am we were escorted to the tuna auction and 15 minutes later we were taken out to allow a second group come in. In this short period of time we saw how the bidders inspect the fish and witnesses several auctions because they do not take too long. Unfortunately this is a practice that will disappear shortly with the construction of the new fish market. Apparently the auction will be electronic… will not be as fun as it is now!
Right after the tuna auction we took the train and headed to Ryogoku Kokugikan for the “2018 January Grand Sumo Tournament”. We were told to arrive very early because there are always last minute tickets that are sold on the day of the competition. We followed the instructions and were there by 6:30am. Around 7:30am we got a piece of paper with a number so we were going to get some tickets. At 8:00am we were directed to the ticket office, got our tickets and were inside the Sumo Stadium. The day started with the intermediate division, fight after fight the stadium got crowded and crowded. After lunch time the senior division fights started and the place got crazy, the atmosphere was great and everyone was cheering for their favourite sumo wrestler. The day ended up for us at 6:00pm and without a proper night of sleep we were ready to go to bed.
It was a day pack with a lot of excitement, the tuna auction and the sumo wrestling; two unique Japanese activities we could not miss.
On January 17 we visited the Nissan Crossing in Ginza where Marcela had a coffee with her face printed on it, the resolution of the printer is remarkable. We also visited some shops looking for camera lenses.
On January 18 we woke up really early to go to Kawasaki station. We read online that it is one of the busiest stations during rush hour so we could see the pushers in action. We got there right on time, train after train people were pushed inside until the doors close. The best one was this lady that comes to the door and in the best Japanese way apologises by bending before start pushing other commuters… such polite people can only be found in Japan.
The rest of the day we spent it walking on the streets of Tokyo and looking for a camera lens.
We could not miss to visit the Shibuya Crossing, the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. We spent some time watching people crossing the street in several directions. Here is time-lapse of this experience…
Today was our last day in Japan, it was an amazing experience we could not have made a reality without the hospitality of Manuel that hosted us for many nights in Tokyo. It is a very expensive country to visit but if you can have a person that hosts you especially in Tokyo, you will have money to do other things. So thank you very much Manuel and thank you Japan for an amazing time, we will come back again during a warmer time of the year!
Two unique experiences in one single day – that’s great! Japan is indeed a wonderful country to visit, and its people are amazing!
Both experiences were great, we could not be happier to have been able to attend both of them in a single day!
I agree, Japan is a wonderful country with lovely people and a great example to the world.