A special trip at the Tsukiji fish market

During my stay in Tokyo I experienced a special Friday morning at the Tsukiji fish market due to coincidental circumstances...

Me and my travel companion were planning to go to the notorious Tsukiji fish market on Friday morning during our stay in the Japanese capital in September 2014.

We knew that we had to be there early because the tours for visitors are limited every morning. The people arrived first get the chance.

In terms of that it went terrible wrong for us. We woke up at 4 A.M. (which was too late) and got lost again (not as bad as on our arrival but still). We ran through Ginza and arrived after 5 P.M. at the fish market. It seemed that is was too late.

So we went along to see as much as possible. On the outside there were booths were people selling fish. We went there along to check out how far we can get. There were also other people trying to went in, but were sent away. No chance.

Then we went inside the building where you had to register for the tour. All too late. We were too late in the first place. We should have been there around 4 P.M., by the time we woke up. Getting lost on the way to the fish market wasn't also very helpful.

So after we had accepted that there was no chance on this day we decided to get back to the hotel -  it was 5:30 in the morning and the sun was already rising. After walking past a gas station close to the market we saw a man sitting in a Nissan Atlas waving. It took a moment that we realized that a actually meant us. So we went to him.

He asked us with bad English if we want to see the market. We said yes and he gave us a sign to follow him. We weren't sure if that guy was serious, but then he took a little delivery vehicle and said we should stand on the small loading platform.

We did and he started driving through lots of different places of the fish market. At that point we realized that we received a special tour not everyone gets. The guy giving us that tour seemed well-known in that area, because he was greeting around and seemed to have access to drive anywhere.

While driving he asked us about our names and where we are from. Knowing that he gave us information about some places around. I'm not sure about the exact quote, but it was like this one:

There is the Tokyo Tower, over there is Yokohama and somewhere behind that... Germany!

Somewhere in the middle of the place he stopped and asked if he should take a photo of us because he saw my travel companion trying to make some pictures while standing on the loading platform during the drive. We accepted this offer of course. I didn't try to take pictures during the drive because I was worried to drop my phone. It was narrow there and the man made fast steering movements.

Except from a lot of fish, cartons, transport vehicles and other traffic we also drove past the area where the bidding happens and we could also see the group of guests which had the chance to participate on the tour.

We sensed some envious glimpses from then since they saw two non-Asians being guided around on a little transport vehicle. And these people had to wear special clothing - probably to be recognized as part of the tour group.

Anyway. At some point our special little journey through the Tsukiji fish market ended. We thanked the man for giving us an unusual free guide around the market. While walking back to the hotel we wondered if that guy gives these special tours more often from time to time or if we got a unique chance for this experience.

We got back to the hotel after 7. A.M. for having a few-hour nap, because we had other plans for the afternoon: Taking the train to the Mt. Takao to have a view at Tokyo and the well-known Fujiyama. But that's another story.

Getting lost in Tokyo after landing

In September 2014 I made my first trip to Japan and already after the arrival it became difficult and time-consuming to just find the hotel - despite maps!

Coming from Düsseldorf in Germany it took like seven hours to the stopover in Dubai and ten more hours from there to Tokyo. I travelled there with a former working colleague who also had the dream to visit the country of anime, manga and videogames.

After 20 hours since leaving Germany around 11 P.M. on a Friday evening we could finally see the lights of Japans biggest city while flying over the Tokyo Bay before the plane landed at the Tokyo International Airport Haneda.

We got our luggage, went through the customs and got an entry in the passport before we were heading to the train station. First it was a bit stressful, because we knew that around midnight the last train would leave. But we also had to get some Yen, so we were looking for an ATM machine. Of course we weren't the only ones who wanted to withdraw money and unfortunately there was also a machine out of service...

But luckily we could make it and we were heading to the ticket machine. We knew to which station we had to go - at least roughly which means leaving the airport station to the Shinagawa station and from there to Shimbashi which should be close to the hotel. But at first it was all quite confusing.

Fortunately there was staff helping people to get their tickets - which was a big advantage for foreigners like us. So we got the tickets and went to the station to catch the train. While we were checking the plan and tickets to guess which line we should take two Japanese girls came to us asking if we need help - apparently we still looking confused.

So I showed them my ticket and then they checked their mobile phone app to find out at what time the train will arrive and which line it is. They asked for a piece of paper to write down the times.  I gave them a bill from a purchase of the Düsseldorf airport for that. The note looked like this:

Shinagawa
STA 0:11
JR Yamanote Line
STD 0:15

So the obviously final train arrived and we were heading to the Shinagawa and then we switched their to the JR Yamanote Line.

It was shortly after midnight as we arrived at the Shimbashi station. After leaving the metro I got my first real impression of Tokyo: High store buildings, people moving from one side to another and this old impressive loc standing outside of the Shimbashi station. At that point it was clear: You're there. You actually arrived in Japan.

We knew it's only a few hundred meters to reach the hotel to get some sleep - but we didn't know that it would take us around two hours to get there! As I know now we went into the wrong direction from the start. I had a map with me, but in hindsight it might would have been better to check it more properly. Maybe the concentration wasn't that well after this long flights, maybe we were also overwhelmed by being in a city so far away.

So we walked with the luggage along several streets only to find out that we would see less and less people. I asked some individuals which were crossing our path to tell us where we were on the map. At this point my Japanese knowledge was not really usable for proper conversations so I tried with English - but unfortunately we only met people with bad or even no English skills.

Nevertheless they tried to help us as good they could. They were mostly speaking Japanese and tried to gesticulate the direction. Either they pointed us several times in wrong direction or we messed up - I would bet on the last one.

I remember one interesting situation where I asked someone and we were told to follow that person to a little shop where the cashier was questioned about the direction. I can't even surely say anymore if the cashier was male or female, but that person was wearing a mask like many Japanese people. We got a mark on the map and gesticulations where to go.

But it was despairing, me and my travel companion weren't sure of the direction - we sometimes also had different opinions. But at one point I was sure that we should be very close. I saw something which was on the map near the hotel.

And then after walking through a dark alley we finally reached a big building called the Shiodome Media Tower which was at the exact same place where our hotel should be. So we went in and it looked like that nobody was there.

Somehow we found an elevator where we realized that the hotel actually begins at the 25th floor! We haven't had this information before, but we were relieved to finally get there. So we went to the reception, checked in and a women working there moved our luggage on a small wagon to the 'next elevator' and then to our room. 29th floor. Finally. It was already past 2 A.M. on Saturday.

And I also needed something to drink urgently - in all the hurry and desperation while running through the unknown I hadn't bought anything. Usually I don't use the minibar in hotel rooms, but in this exception it was an emergency. The 300 Yen for a bottle of water was worth it.

That's how the 'first day' in Tokyo ended and we got the necessary sleep. That was just the beginning and eight more days to follow - and this wasn't the only time we got lost...