Fish Market and Sumo Wrestling

The alarm went off at 3:01 a.m. Yes, 3:01 a.m. That is not a typo. Up, ready, and out the door by 3:30a.m. We walked for about 15 minutes to the Tsukiji fish market. They only let the first 120 people (two groups of 60) in for a tuna auction and everyone after that is out of luck. Olivia told us they went at 4:30 a.m. one time and didn't get tickets so she said to go early. There were two tours...5:25 and 5:50.

3:10 a.m. and he is up ready to go.

The map of the fish market.

We found the ticket office and there was one couple in line. We were plenty early but it is always better to be safe than sorry. We watched all the action happening around the market. There were tons of trucks and people going in and out. This was a busy place.

Waiting outside.

Lots of trucks and people working.

At 4:00 a.m they opened the doors and moved us into a holding room. There were 5 rows that the guards placed us in. We each were given a bright yellow vest to wear. Once all 60 of us were in lines they told us to sit down. We were there until 5:20. People slept, read, chatted whatever they needed to do to kill over an hour. This part was pretty painful. Time moved very slowly. It didn't help that they played a video of rules over and over the entire time.

This team is ready.

Nothing better than hanging out with friends at 4:00 a.m.

This guy was my favorite. 

Todd lasted about 5 minutes on the ground and then had to stand up.

Will also lasted about 5 minutes.

Finally ready to go. Our guards walked us to a warehouse type building, through a door, and into the auction site. The excitement was building. There were a lot of big, frozen tuna lying on the floor in nice rows. There were men walking around using flash lights and poking tools examining the tails of the tuna. They would look, poke it, then pull off some meat. We watched on older man put the eat in his mouth, chew, spit it into his hand,then examine it. We have no idea what he was looking for but that is why he is the professional. All of a sudden a guy started ringing a bell. Then there was a lot of chatter we couldn't understand. In a flash it was over. Hmmmm, that wasn't so interesting. Surely there is more to this. A couple minutes later more bells started ringing. A few auctions were going on at the same time. The one right in front of us lasted maybe 3 minutes. Next thing there were sold stickers on 30 or so tuna. We had no idea what was happening. But the sad part was that was it. It was over and we were rushed out of the building. We were all a little shocked and disappointed that there wasn't more to this. Oh well. At least we can say we went to a tuna auction.

Its go time.

A lot of tuna laying around.

Cameron's checking out the action.

Examining the tuna.

This is the guy we watched chew and spit out then examine the tuna.

The auction has started.

We wondered what the big deal was about flashes.

Slap a sold sticker on and call it a day.

Out a door, through a building that was very busy with little motorized carts, across a parking lot, and to guard shack. We turned in our vests and went on about our own business. We walked around all the little shops outside the market. There were souvenirs, little Japanese restaurants, fruit stands, snack stands..just a mix of everything. Some things were quite expensive. Sharla wanted a little thing of grapes but it was about $25 for maybe 20 grapes. Wowza. Todd found a little Japanese restaurant to get some food. It was a bowl of rice with raw tuna and other things in it. It looked gross but he said it was good. We stood around and watched him eat it. We got Cameron a shirt with the market name in Japanese that's pretty cool.

These cool little vehicles were everywhere.

The sign says "Do not enter".  Enter what?
His belly?

Lots of Styrofoam containers.

Huge bottles of Sake.

Cameron enjoyed looking at the knives and poking sticks.

One of the many "streets" we checked out.

Restaurants tucked in small spaces.

Todd's breakfast.

Cameron tries everything.

This was the bowl of yummy goodness.

We started back to the hotel. The rest of us wanted Subway for breakfast. Oh man, they didn't open until 10:30 and it was only 6:45. We made it back to the hotel and just decided to eat the buffet again. After breakfast we decided to take a rest since it was going to be a long day. Todd, Cameron, and Will went to the rooms while Sharla and I went to the business center. We needed to get all the directions and places lined up we were going to later. We got back to the rooms a little after 8:30. Todd was sleeping and Cameron was very comfy but still not sleeping in our bed. I laid on the couch and fell asleep.

At 9:45 the three of us decided to venture out some more. Freshened up a little and we were out the door at 10:00. We went back down to the fish market. There were parts that weren't open earlier that we wanted to see. We walked through the fruit market to get to the wholesale meat section. This is where they cut up, package, and ship out or sell the fish. It was mostly finished but we were able to see a guy cutting up a tuna using a band saw. We also saw all kinds of things from the sea...fish, eel, crabs, etc. Also saw lots of blood and heads from tuna. Pretty cool over all. We continued exploring for awhile. Todd decided he needed to try some meat on a sick. Found a stand and he ordered tuna tail on a stick. As the guy was grilling it Todd pointed at a picture and said "what's that?". The guy answered in the best English he could by saying what Todd thought was "where". Todd pointed again and said "there". The guy checked with his co-worker to see if he was saying it correctly and again said what Todd thought was "where". After the 3rd time Todd finally realized the guy was saying "whale". Todd was bummed he didn't ask sooner because he would have gotten that instead. We all tasted tuna fin and it wasn't bad. Explored a little more but it was so hot and crowded in these tiny walk ways we decided to leave.

This was Todd's idea.  He thought this was funny.

Fruit market.

A man cutting up tuna.

A lot of heads.

More knives for Cameron to check out.

Some icky fish.

These guys had big eyes.

A square watermelon.  We should have bought it.

These knives were huge.

Todd's tuna tail.

We walked back towards the hotel but decided to get Subway for lunch for Cameron and I. We walked in and realized it is not exactly like other Subways. We did manage to get a Philly cheese steak wrap and a chicken wrap. It was just a tortilla with not very much meat. We took it back to the room.

We had an hour to rest up before we were meeting up with Sharla and Will. We watched some television, ate our sandwiches (ok, but not great), freshened up, then went downstairs. Sharla and Will napped and got McDonald's. Our tour bus picked us up at 1:00 and we stopped at the bus station. We checked in and met our tour guide, Kathleen. She was an American so we chatted with her while waiting to go. Once everyone was there she explained some stuff to use in the station and then we went upstairs to jump on the JR Railway. We were headed to the Sumo Wrestling Tournament. Excitement was in the air.

On the bus getting ready for some Sumo.

Reading up on Sumo facts.

Sharla and Will getting acquainted with Kathleen, our guide.

Kathleen giving us a little history lesson.

Here comes our train.

As Sharla said "This is the calm before the storm".

The Sumo Arena.

These performers were in the train station.

If you put your finger on the sensor it tells you what kind of drink you need.
How cool.

What are you doing Cameron?

Our first Sumo encounter.

Tons of colorful flags outside the arena.

Some kind of parade went by.

These poor kids looked like they were dying trying to carry this heavy thing.

Sumo mural.

Once at the arena we briefly went through the museum and then found our seats. Great view. We were watching the top two divisions of Sumo Wrestling. Sumo is big on tradition. From the lifestyle to the hair it is all pretty cool. The top dog...grand champion...makes around 2 million U.S. dollars. That sounds like a lot but compared to our professional athletes that is nothing. All sumo wrestlers live together in their "stable" and until they reach the top 2 levels they have to share a room with multiple guys. It's fascinating.

This was in the bathroom.  If you need to do more than pee you push this button.
It makes a continuous flushing sound for a minute or so. 
That doesn't draw attention to yourself does it?

Welcome to Sumo Wrestling.

The white stuff is the salt they throw every time before squatting.

We are all geared up for some action.

The arena was pretty big.
It got much more crowded at 4:00.

Getting into position.

Introductions.  That is a whole lot of bare butt in the ring.

This guy is going for the Grand Championship.
He has to win every match over the next 15 days.

We got some snacks. Cameron had a hot dog and I had a bacon burger. We also got fries. We sat back down and I opened my burger. It had 2 tiny square pieces of bacon with lettuce and a ton of mayo. I thought I was getting a bacon hamburger but nope. Very disappointing. I pulled the two pieces of bacon off and ate just them. The hot dog was normal. Will went down next to get food. He felt sorry for me so he got me a hamburger. That was so nice of him. I opened it and it had a tiny hamburger with tons of mayo. I pulled the little burger off and ate that only. Todd went downstairs because he was looking for meat on a stick. He came back with 4 boxes of yakitori...chicken and meatballs (not together) on sticks to share. The Sumo book says "there is nothing quite like viewing Sumo wrestling with a beer in one hand and a stick of yakitori in the other". Don't mind if we do.

My disgusting bacon burger.  Where's the burger?

A chicken and a meatball yakitori.

At 4:00 we could listen to an English broadcast but it didn't come in very well.

Sharla, Cameron, and I went walking around. We went down to the main level and Sharla took Cameron into a door that you were suppose to have a ticket for. She some how schmoozed the guy by telling him her friend had their tickets. I got stuck behind others so I wasn't able to follow them. I looked back in the door and those two were gone. The door guy looked around for them but he couldn't find them. I walked away so I didn't make it obvious they were not where they were suppose to be. I went back up to our seats and tried to find them by looking down below. No clue where they went. They were gone for at least a half hour and finally they came back. Come to find out they got really close and over to where the wrestlers came out and got ready to go in the ring. Sharla said something like she was a sports psychologist. The people would tell her she couldn't go closer but she schmoozed and went anyway. They told her no pictures but she schmoozed and they said "ok, just 3". Things like that is what Sharla can make happen. So her and Cameron got some close up action and pictures.

The skinny guy is from the Czech Republic.

While those 2 were missing in action Todd, Will, and I walked around. We were where the big Sumo guys walk out. Todd got his picture with a couple guys. It is in their contracts that they have to sign autographs and take photos. That's pretty cool. Plus, the Japanese people are just very kind and generous people anyway. We bought a set of Sumo magnets. On our way out Sharla decided she wanted one of the posters that were hanging everywhere. She asked a girl who in turn asked a guy. Next thing we know Sharla and the girl walk by us and I heard her telling the girl she wanted them for her classroom in Canada. Sure enough, Sharla comes out with two posters...one for Cameron. How does she do this stuff? She was pretty happy with herself.

M & M Sumo Guy.

Hello Mr. Sumo.

Todd tried to pick a fight with this guy.

Sumo's going back to their stable.

Big guys.

Head...Butt.  The posters Sharla got.

Our cute magnets.

After the Sumo matches we walked over to a bar/restaurant that the Sumo guys supposedly hang out in. We passed some Sumo's on the way.  Again Sharla schmoozed to get us a table where the ring is. We ordered sushi, edamame, pizza, french fries, drinks, and Sake (this was Sharla's idea). She needed to get the 3 S's while in Tokyo...Sumo, Sushi, and Sake. Today was the day for them all. I only drank a little Sake. I used my brains and just said no. Cameron got to get in the middle of the ring and he posed like a sumo. He even threw salt like they do to ward off evil spirits.

More Sumo guys.

Sumo Todd and Mini Sumo Cameron.

Ready to wrestle.

Throwing salt.

Time for a toast.

Some of our food.

Some older men in robes got in the middle of the ring and played a drum and did some other weird song/money collection thing. It wasn't the coolest but it was entertaining. As we were walking out Sharla decided she wanted another poster from here. She asked a girl and as they were having the conversation one of the men from the "performance" , who is obviously important, said to just give it to her. Again the Sharla charm worked.

The drum player.

For some reason this guy reminded us of Grandpa Tom.

After dinner we got on the train and headed to Shibuya Crossing. This is the worlds busiest crossing. 100,000 people cross this intersection every hour. It was amazing to watch. The lights turn red, cars stop, and people cross straight and diagonal at the same time. It's crazy. We decided we needed to cross it while we were there. Away we went to the other side.

Check out all the people.

Lots of action and lots of lights.

We are going across.

First thing we saw was a guy holding a sign saying "free hugs". Cameron ran and hugged him while we took pictures. The guy had Sharla take a picture of him and Cameron too. Too funny.

Cameron wants in on the free action.

Good thing it didn't say Free Kisses.

We continued walking around. Sharla bought a hat in the hat store and Todd bought nuggets from McDonald's for Cameron. Walked around some more then went back to the crossing and made our way across again. Back on the train and headed to the hotel. We were all tired from such a long day.

Man he looks cute.

I spy Cameron.

Cameron liked this hat.

Sharla struck up a Chinese conversation with some people on the train? It was hilarious. A guy got up and sat by her so they could talk some more. When we got off she said he had the worst body odor and breath. We were sitting in a different section. Sharla may have been a little over served by her own admittance. The funny part is she was serving herself from her back pack. She wasn't doing anything bad she was just a funny girl.

This guy was trying to help everyone buy tickets. Todd and Will bit.
They guy pocked about $2 for his troubles.

Sharla's new friends.  The guy closest was smelly guy.

Off the train and we made the walk back to the hotel which seemed like it took forever. Sharla thought she was going to wet herself and I thought my feet were going to fall off. Finally back to our room. Showers and bed. Out cold in about 2 seconds flat. By far the best day in Tokyo. Fun!