This post was written in 2005. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.
Ginza, glittering with luxury brands and upscale department stores, and Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo’s kitchen,
couldn’t be more different in image, but in reality they’re very close to each other. From central
Ginza it’s only a walk of ten-odd minutes. If you walk about 1.5 times the distance from Yurakucho Station
to the centre of Ginza, Tsukiji Market comes into view.
Both are famous for being lined with long-established restaurants. Well… there are so many
renowned places that it’s hard to even list them all, but whichever one you pick,
you’ll have a satisfying meal. (Tsukiji is a little easier on the wallet, though ^^)
OK… now on to the main story… This Tuesday… I wanted to buy some lenses, so I boldly
resigned myself to being late for work and headed out to Ginza. ^_^; I took an early-morning train for an hour, then walked from Yurakucho Station
to Tsukiji. I left at 6:30, and by the time I reached Tsukiji’s inner market it was
around 8. (I live a bit far from central Tokyo ^_^)
After agonising over where to eat, I went into Daiwa Sushi, a famous old-guard place. It’s the shop
Yepok raved about a while back… I ordered a few pieces à la carte. I started with uni
and finished with otoro and tamago. Maybe because I’ve been eating nothing but sushi from lunch boxes lately,
or maybe because I wasn’t in great shape, the taste didn’t really move me… The otoro…
of course it melted away, but… even so, it didn’t seem as good as the toro I once had
in Osaka. I wandered around the inner market for a while, then the outer market… I thought about picking up some side dishes
to take home, but just headed back to Ginza instead. After all, I’d have lenses to carry too…
Next time I come to Tsukiji, I think I’ll have to try Sushi Dai next door.
I got to Ginza at 9… but every shop in Ginza opens at 10. There are a few cafés open
at 9, but I don’t drink coffee, so I skipped them… For a whole hour I roamed the streets of Ginza
in the cold. -_-;; There’s one dilemma between Ginza and Tsukiji… Tsukiji
peaks at 7, while Ginza’s shops open at 10. The truly great among you
would probably have no trouble at all camping out in Tsukiji eating from 7 till 10…
but sadly I’m not that great, so it was impossible. Next time I go to Tsukiji…
I’ll try to plan my timing a bit better.
So… the moment the Ginza shops opened at 10, I headed into Satie, a chocolate shop in the food hall of the Mitsukoshi
department store right in the heart of Ginza. It sells the best chocolate I’ve ever tasted.
That day they had a Valentine’s Day promotion with a 20% discount they only do once a year.
So I bought three boxes. ^^ It came to a little over 40,000 won… ^_^; I think it was worth the splurge…
Then I bought a big-size Hershey’s almond chocolate bar for 200 yen just to snack on, and went to look at lenses at a used camera shop
that opens at 10:30.
In the end… after a bit of a struggle (and showing up really late for work), I got every lens I wanted. I bought
delicious chocolate too… it was a really satisfying day. I wish every day could be like this. ^_^;;