Page 74 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide: Japan

72  T OK Y O AREA B Y AREA

They sell everything from
dried squid to porcelain tea
cups, as well as delicious –
and cheap – sushi, tempura
and even curry. The outer
market is also packed with
many restaurants and shops.
Another vestige of the
Tsukiji of old, located near
the Kachidoki Bridge entrance
to the market (where boats
unload their catch), is the
Namiyoke Inari Jinja (Wave-
repelling Fox Shrine). Fisher-
Kabuki actors performing at the Kabuki-za Theater men and traders have come
to this shrine for decades to
2 Kabuki-za Theater moved to the Toyosu district pray for safety and prosperity.
of Tokyo’s Koto Ward (see p106)
Kabuki-za Theatre
in 2016.
4-12-15 Ginza. Map 5 C3. Tel (03) Despite losing its status
3545-6800.  Higashi-Ginza stn, as Japan’s primary seafood
Toei Asakusa & Hibiya lines. & wholesaler, the district remains
∑ kabuki-bito.jp/eng/contents/ a mecca for lovers of fresh
theatre/kabukiza.html
seafood. The original “outer
market” has stayed where it
Tokyo’s principal theater for has always been, although A box of fish from Tsukiji Fish Market
Kabuki (see p41) opened in it has perhaps lost a little of
1889 during the reign of its gritty, old-world charm and
Emperor Meiji – a part of somewhat chaotic atmosphere. 4 Hama-rikyu
Kabuki’s shift from daytime The vendors are now mainly Gardens
entertainment for the located in a slick, multi-story,
Shitamachi masses in modern building with open Hama Detached Palace Garden
Asakusa to a more high- terraces, where it is still Map 5 B4. Tel (03) 3541-0200.
brow art form. possible to see and taste  Shiodome stn, Oedo line. £
The building is one of the many unusual types of freshly Shinbashi stn, Yamanote line. 4
oldest surviving examples of caught fish. Indeed, seafood see Sumida River Trip. Open
the use of Western building lovers won’t be disappointed 9am–5pm. (Last adm 30 mins
materials and techniques in as the area still serves some before closing.) &
traditional Japanese styles. of the freshest sushi and
Almost destroyed by the seafood that Japan’s capital Situated where the Sumida
Allied bombing of 1945, the has to offer. River empties into Tokyo
theater was rebuilt in 1951. Visitors longing for a less Bay, this 25-hectare (62-acre)
Demolished again in 2010, sterile market experience garden was built in 1654 as
the building was then recon- can enjoy perusing the a retreat for the shogun’s
structed; it reopened in March remaining mom and pop family, who also hunted
2013. Performances take place style shops and stalls that duck here. America’s former
most days (see p112). line the streets and alleys president, Ulysses S. Grant
surrounding the market. stayed in a villa in the gardens
3 Tsukiji Fish
Market
Tsukiji Fish Market
Map 5 C4.  Tsukijishijo stn, Toei Oedo
line. Open 5am–2pm daily. ∑ tsukiji.
or.jp/english/accessmap.html
Formerly the largest fish
market in the world, Tsukiji
was once the heart of
Japan’s thriving seafood
trade. Originally established
in 1935, the wholesale “inner
market” was controversially Nakajima teahouse in Hama-rikyu Gardens
For hotels and restaurants see p302 and pp324–6

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