National_Geographic_Traveller_India-May_2018

58 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | MAY 2018

THE FOCUS

Too

Much

Tuna

2 .47 a.m. I arrive early at Tsukiji Market, the largest wholesale

fish market in the world. For the high-stakes tuna auction, bidding

begins at 5.30 a.m., and only 120 visitors are allowed to watch.

Tsukiji (pronounced skee-gee) attracts 40,000 shoppers daily but

wasn’t designed to be a tourist attraction; forklifts whiz by in tight

alleyways, and one of the fishmongers actually gives us the middle

finger—the Japanese equivalent of “I’m walkin’ here!” A buyer tells

me about the most expensive tuna ever sold: a $1.76 million bluefin

auctioned in 2013. At 5.20 a.m. we are ushered into a hangar where

licenced buyers examine the fish. The whole thing feels like the floor

of the New York Stock Exchange; a bell rings and men start shouting

numbers and barking into cell phones. What jet lag?

6.12 a.m.

Raw Bar

Compact sushi counters surround

Tsukiji. While I wait 30 minutes for a

seat at Daiwa Sushi, I get the skinny on

Tsukiji’s long-delayed move to a modern

facility, a transition mired in corruption

accusations. Once seated, I ask the chef

about the impending move as he serves

me pieces of sea urchin and skipjack.

“Next year,” he grunts. “Really?” I say.

The safest bet: definitely before the

Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

11.32 a.m.

#Purrfect

The Tokyo train system is a marvel

of efficiency and affordability in a

city where taxis are stupid-expen-

sive. I take the Chiyoda line to the

Meiji-jingumae stop—admiring a

businessman with his Samsonite

luggage and Hello Kitty cell phone

case on the way—and walk over to

the Harajuku neighbourhood, once

the epicentre of forward-thinking

fashion co-opted by Gwen Stefani

and others, now the best place for

people-watching. Teenagers eat

rainbow-coloured clouds of cotton

candy, and women carry umbrellas

to avoid getting a tan. Harajuku’s

newish trend: cat cafés. For about a

`650 entrance fee, you get a cup of

coffee and 30 minutes playing with

adorable kittens that tussle with

each other and nap on your lap.

7. 5 3 a .m.
   Take a Bath
   Full and happy, I check in to Hoshinoya,
   a modern ryokan, or Japanese inn, in
   the centre of Tokyo. I change into a
   kimono, then make my way to the hot
   spring-fed baths on the 17th floor. This
   is a retreat like no other—a dimly lit
   pool with an open-air skylight, where
   you can get naked and soak to the
   soundtrack of the city.

Get in line by

2 a.m. at Tsukiji

fish market to

nab one of the

120 passes to

view the tuna

auction.