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.
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