Thursday 9 th

This morning we went to the Tzujiki Fish markets. This required an early start but we were not committed enough to make the auction of the Tuna at 5:00 am.  We were there early enough to see the wholesalers. What a scary environment with little trolleys zipping every which way. The most confronting sight was a fishmonger scaling and then slicing a live fish that flipped and flopped while he cut it. Ann saw a tuna heart still beating while it was being sliced! Wandering around the outer market was so interesting too. There was a huge range of sea products that I had never seen. After the guys had been shoved aside a few times we decided to leave. We settled on a breakfast at a street stall on the main edge of the market and had sashimi with seaweed and rice which was amazing. The cleanliness of the staff was outstanding. We kept getting these whiffs of bleach!

Leaving the market I went home to meet up with Hiko my friend from walking the Camino Fraance in 2012.  

 Some of the produce

Baby eels alive

 Ann eating fresh crab

I was so hot I had to have a shower before meeting them. Hiko had prepared lots of questions and checked off all the things I had seen so far. He was very pleased by all the things I had seen. We used the Google translater and his electronic translator to converse. His wife was a lovely person who had some English. They bought a gift of a Shinkansen train for Ziggy and some Yokohama biscuits for me. We had tempura in a little place around the corner then off to coffee. I invited them back so I could give them the chocolates I had bought. They are such kind hearted people. I was embarrassed that when I brought them up to the apartment that the others did not hear my knocks so I went down again to the letterbox and tried to put my hand in. Hiko and his wife both tried too without success. Back we went upstairs and I knocked harder this time and finally the door opened. We all came in and I gave them the chocolates. They stayed for a cup of tea. I was exhausted from the effort of concentration. 

Outside the Tempura restaurant

After a couple of plum wines I felt restored. We finished the evening off with a fabulous dish of noodles from one of the restaurants under the office building opposite our apartment.