First up, however, a co-worker and I decided to get up at the crack of dawn and head to the local Tsujii Fish Market. This is the famous fish market where the tuna auctions are held. By the time
we found our way into the sprawling market and wound are way to the back where the auctions are held, we discovered we had missed the actual auctions themselves. However, the auctions had apparently just ended and there was an incredible flurry of activity and piles of tuna still lying around. Folks weren't kidding when they said that watch were you were going and be prepared to get dirty. There were all these carts that they used to transport items and they were very maneuverable and could turn on a dime. You had to be very careful or you would get run over by an endless line of these little carts. And when you are dealing with lots of frozen and fresh fish, the place is bound to be a little dank and dirty. I smelled like fish the whole day.
Tuna was way larger than I imagined and there were hundreds of tuna in this one room with tags on them after being auctioned. We were allowed to walk around pretty much anywhere so we explored many of the nook and crannies of the entire fish market. In front of the tuna auction local, there were lots of individual dealers and vendors slicing/carving up their tuna or selling other seafood items and to one side of the fish market was this cavernous room with all sorts of fruits and vegetables being sold. It was quite a place and makes the Seattle Pike Place Fish Market look little and quaint in comparison.
After we had our fill of fish, we headed up to Ueno Park, a popular location for cherry blossoms. It was still early as we walked along the lakes through a wonderful pathway canopied with cherry blossoms. It was beautiful! We were headed towards the Ueno train station to meet up with another co-worker and as we sat there next to the rail station waiting for our friend, out poured the masses of folks. I am mean masses. Hundreds and thousands of people poured from the station in the 45 minutes we sat and waited. And they were all headed the same place we were.Once we did meet up with our friend, we joined the swarm and headed into the park. The main
area was another cherry blossom encased walkway, but this time, it was wall to wall people. And all along the grounds underneath the cherry blossom trees folks were picnicking on big blue tarps. The ground was completely covered in blue tarps and it looks as if some had come days in advance to stake out there little spot underneath the cherry blossoms. For me, the beauty of these fabulous cherry blossom walkways were ruined by the endless blue tarps strung along the ground and the shear mass of people you had to dodge.I took the afternoon off to rest and to get changed out of the ode de seafood clothes I had one since the morning. I met back up with my two co-workers and headed to a nighttime cherry blossom festival complete with illuminated cherry blossom trees. Sounded kinda cool! Of course, the crowds that were in Ueno Park in the daytime appeared to follow us to this festival. We had to wait in line for about an hour just to get into the location of the illuminated trees. And it wasn't because they were limiting the number of folks in. No, the wait was just due to the shear number of folks filing through the small pathway.
Again, it was beautiful! This festival was along one of the moats surrounding the Imperial Palace and the trees on both sides of the moat were nicely illuminated creating this wonderful night-time walkway. Of course, the crowds were horrendous and for the first time, actually kinda rude at times with pushing and shoving. At the end of the long pathway, I was so sick of Japan and cherry blossoms, I wouldn't have cared if I never saw either ever again. I am glad I saw the cherry blossoms, but I don't think I would go out of my way to see them again.More photos are at the links below:
Fish Market
Cherry Blossoms - Ueno Park & Night Illumination Festival
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