Tsukiji Wonderland Page #4

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part under the skin.

It's unique to rosy seabass

and makes it delicious.

Winter fish are fatty

and delicious.

But in summer we don't crave

the same fatty fish.

Fish are different and we enjoy

different fish for each season.

Japan's seasonal foods are

a pleasure.

We come here at I AM

to lay out the fish.

At I I PM we unload and clean

the tunas for the auction.

Oma's tuna"

Frozen tunas and bluefins are

in different halls.

Bigeyes also go to

a different hall.

We lay out the good ones first.

The best tuna's up front.

But sometimes it isn't so.

Fish we want to push

go in a prominent spot.

To grab attention and to

get a better price-.

The harvesters leave their products

with us.

We see to it

that they get a good price.

T0hto Suisan Co., Ltd."

Can I talk to your boss?

The fish has a blemish.

Wholesalers buy tunas

from distributers

so they want more money.

The intermediate wholesalers behave

more like shoppers.

They want to buy good tuna for less.

Tuna Department"

What they both want is to

expand the seafood consumption.

And they all want to provide

good fish to the consumers.

It's pink!

The quality of fish.

The quality of fish.

Shipping conditions and the weather's

effect on tomorrow's catch.

Whether I should buy today.

If fish is available for the

next few days I won't buy it.

That's what we discuss.

They're so informative.

Without information

I'd do no business.

Wholesalers need intermediate

wholesalers and vice versa.

We have a symbiotic relationship

I guess.

I arrive at the auction hall

then I walk around to see the fish.

I evaluate at the same time.

I check the flesh.

I check the cross-section of the tail

for density, texture and stickiness.

The overall shape, the abdomen's

thickness and so on-.

I try to imagine it inside.

Pale red is the ideal color.

I try to envision its value.

The thinner the skin,

the fattier.

If the fish is this fresh

it'll taste like this in a week.

I have the whole story in my head.

It's almost delusional.

Toichiro lida

Intermediate Wholesaler

Guys who work at Tsukiji...

They live in a fish fantasy.

An auction is alive and hard

to gauge.

In an auction the most unexpected

thing could happen.

In 3 minutes.

I'm nervous when I go out there

and ring the bell.

I surprise myself

with the bell.

That gets me in the right mood.

One bid could get you a tuna

as expensive as a luxury car.

We bid with our fingers-

We call it spearing.

If we don't win,

our spear was blunt.

It's from Shiogama Port in Miyagi.

It weighs about I00 kilos.

Caught on longline.

OK, I'll push it from this side.

You need a few men. The left side of the

abdomen is usually first.

Now the back.

You turn it over and clean it.

Then the right side of the abdomen,

then the back.

Now it's quartered.

Hundreds of years ago

nobody ate abdomen cuts.

Now fatty cuts like otoro

are in demand.

The abdomen's fattier-

The red meat's at the back.

Otoro, the fattiest cut's

from the abdomen.

There are only 2 cuts

with fatty meat.

That's why it's expensive.

This one looks good.

But this looks better.

This tastes better.

It's all seasonal.

Tunas aren't so fatty in summer.

In spring they're great

with a subtler taste.

Tuna from different seas vary in taste.

The size is also going

to affect the taste.

Oma, caught on longline"

How they're caught

also changes the taste.

Some fish live in deep waters.

They taste better because

of the food they eat.

Stress also affects the

taste of the fish.

Fish look good if they don't struggle

on the hook but they aren't vital.

I like tuna from local waters.

Taste is everything.

Bad looking tuna can taste good

and vice versa.

It's tastier if the color

changes quickly.

I don't sell tuna that doesn't meet

my standards.

That's the risk I have to take

at this job-.

Look at this fish!

OK, this is it, guys.

So fatty!

From off the coast of Oma.

From shallow waters.

I check the color, the quality of

the meat and fat.

And its tenderness.

I rate that over appearance.

And the fat's delicacy.

What do you look for in tuna?

Fatty tuna melts easily.

With a low melting point

the fat melts at a touch.

I'm blissful when I cut a tuna like that

and imagine the great sushi it'll make.

If it's dark here, it's dark

everywhere.

If it's white, the fat layer's thicker.

Farmed tuna gets like that.

Farmed fish is white like this.

Wild fish isn't so fatty.

The meat feels so juicy!

The back side is richer in flavor and

aroma while the abdomen is fattier.

You can tell everything

by the red meat.

If it tastes good

so does the rest.

I'm trying to get myself roused up

but I'm down-.

Not many good tunas today.

This is the last one.

OK?

Upper abdomen cuts?

What? I5 upper abdomen orders?

We don't have I5.

No tuna today.

They're in the sea.

Bring me good tuna!

I'll come back.

Why don't you go

catch some tuna?

The thing is,

I trade tuna and that defines me.

I tell myself that

and I tell my employees that too.

The best place to enjoy

the four seasons.

I trade tuna but

I can't call myself a businessman.

Domestically caught tuna

isn't good business.

You wouldn't trade them

if money's your priority.

For me and my customers

it's a quest.

Trading tuna means so much more than just

trading superior fish.

My quest for the ideal tuna

isn't a personal obsession.

It's because my customers want to

buy it from me-.

That's why I bid when

I'm at the auction hall.

Good tuna!

Come and look!

Some gossip about the tuna's prices.

That fish was overpriced."

I say those things too.

But when I make a bid, I owe it

to my customer to win-.

It's not about the price.

That's not what it's about.

Those fish are priceless.

Maybe it's hard to understand.

The length we'd go to get

just the right fish for the customer.

It's not to do with the price.

Nor the grade.

You have to bid for the fish

the customer wants. That's all.

It's been tough.

There's less tuna this year.

Tuna give me stress so I play golf.

- Does it work?

- Yes.

I was advised to forget tuna

for a while.

Don't forget tuna.

That's your thing.

That's your thing, right?

3 cuts for you today.

Look at the fat!

This is supreme.

I'll take that and age it.

This one's good but...

I'll take the Wakayama tuna.

The anticipation!

There's something special

about tuna.

They're hard to catch.

Fishermen risk their lives

to catch them.

We're obliged to honor

their heroism with our sushi.

The collar, semi-fatty, fatty

and red meat.

Tuna is the king.

Tunas in Japanese waters are tasty

because of what they eat.

If tuna eat bad fish,

they will taste bad too.

A fertile sea

makes great fatty tunas.

Japan's seas are the best.

We manufacture ice for the market.

To keep the fish fresh.

The ice is delivered at 3 AM

every morning.

Akimitsu Tsunoi

Ice Manufacturer

We take shifts to make it

24 hours a day.

We break up or saw the ice to sell.

We also sell blocks of ice.

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