I went back to Tokyo for very special and long day. Not intentionally but started the day with experiencing a 6.5 magnitude earthquake on my 42nd floor hotel room. It lasted around 30 seconds, was quite noisy and everything was swinging quite heavily. As I just read, that kind of earthquakes are not even appearing in the statistics. They just register the ones stronger than 6.5. Already 3 registered that far in 2015. Mine is considered quite frequent, like part of daily life.
Earthquake infos come with the weather forecast. See it here
I started the day at the famous Tsukiji fish market, because of several reasons. Once because of being the biggest fish and wholesale market on the world.
The market handles more than 400 different types of seafood from cheap seaweed to the most expensive caviar, and from tiny sardines to 300 kg tuna and controversial whale species. Overall, more than 700,000 metric tons of seafood are handled every
year at the three seafood markets in Tokyo, with a total value in excess
of 600 billion yen (approximately 5.9 billion US dollars).
The number of registered employees varies from 60,000 to 65,000, including wholesalers, accountants,
auctioneers, company officials, and distributors.
Also went there to buy some Japanese chef s knife. Beforehand I read several forums of course and decided to go for the one hidden here.
Tsukiji Masamoto is one of Japan’s premier knife
makers. Founded in 1845, they began producing cutlery in workshops
located outside Tokyo. Today, the 7th-generation owner, Misao Hirano,
runs his venerable business here. I bought 3 knifes in total, had my name engraved
I bought 3 knifes in total, had my name engraved in them and sharpened in front of me. I was also told that resharpening is free of charge lifetime.:)
The ones having 3 hours to wait to get one of the 8 seats in "Sushi Dai" can also enjoy the best Sushi of the world here. I think the place is overhyped, thanks to some reports about it. Majority of the people queuing were American tourists. Also in general sushi is quite pricey in Japan, so I skipped that and went to more interesting place.
I went to Ryōgoku Kokugikan (両国国技館) also known as Ryougoku Sumo Hall. The current building was opened in 1985 and has a capacity of 13,000 people.
Sumo(相撲sumō) is a competitive full-contact wrestling sport where a rikishi (wrestler) attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring (dohyō) or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet.
The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practised professionally. There are six divisions in sumo: makuuchi (maximum 42 wrestlers), jūryō (fixed at 28 wrestlers), makushita (fixed at 120 wrestlers), sandanme (fixed at 200 wrestlers), jonidan (approximately 185 wrestlers), and jonokuchi (approximately 40 wrestlers).
There are also some other things, what you have to experience ones you re in Japan. One of them is the deadly poisonous fish Fugu(河豚 or 鰒; フグ) i.e. pufferfish. Fugu can be lethally poisonous due to its tetrodotoxin.
The restaurant preparation of fugu is strictly controlled by law in
Japan and several other countries, and only chefs who have qualified
after three or more years of rigorous training are allowed to prepare
the fish. Fugu has become one of the most celebrated and notorious dishes even for Japanese people.
Fugu poison is 1200 times stronger than cyanide. Since 1958 fugu chefs must earn a license to prepare and sell fugu to
the public. This involves a two- or three-year apprenticeship. The
licensing examination process consists of a written test, a
fish-identification test, and a practical test, preparing and eating the
fish. Only about 35 percent of the applicants pass.
The symptoms from ingesting a lethal dose of tetrodotoxin may include
dizziness, exhaustion, headache, nausea, or difficulty breathing. The
victim remains conscious but cannot speak or move. Breathing stops and that was it....
I managed to get invited in a quite exclusive restaurant and we changed recipes with the fugu chef.
An other thing I wanted to try in Japan was spending a night in their famous capsule hotels.
The benefit of these hotels is convenience and price, usually around
¥2000-4000 (USD 20-41) a night. They provide an alternative for those
who (especially on weeknights) may be too drunk to return home safely, or too embarrassed to face their spouses.
With continued recession in Japan, as of early 2010, more and more guests - roughly 30% at the Capsule Hotel Shinjuku 510 in Tokyo - were unemployed or underemployed and were renting capsules by the month.This style of hotel has not gained wide popularity outside of Japan. I was wondering why....
I think I exploited everything more or less I could during this visit to Japan. Tomorrow I am flying to Taiwan to break the long way home....
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