Eeking out every little bit

It's our last few hours in Japan. Being how we are, we woke with the sunrise at 4:45 to get on the subway to head to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market.

All the books say to get there early, because that's when the fish come in. Like everything in Tokyo, this market is so big, it was quite overwhelming. Hand trucks and motorized fork lifts were whizzing around everywhere, running over your feet if you didn't move quickly enough. People were everywhere. Fish and ice boxes were everywhere. And yet, it all had a specific order about it.

To see the fish and other seafood come in and get cut apart with enormous sword-like knives and exact precision was really an experience. Seeing the enormous tuna was really the most impressive. And surprisingly, it didn't smell much.

I didn't even know what a lot of the non-fish stuff was, but it was pretty cool.

That was, until a police officer gave me the official "X" with his arms (I'm sensing a pattern here!) and told us the market was closed to visitors until 9 a.m. (Why do the guidebooks encourage this if it's not open?)

We'd seen quite a bit at that point, though, and Beerman had been eyeing up the handmade knives all week. So we left the fish market and headed up the street to Masamoto's knife shop. It's a 240 year old family-run knife shop frequented by Tokyo chefs for their kitchens. This is the current Masamoto in charge, sharpening our very own brand new Tokyo-style vegetable knife.

And now, we are finishing our packing and heading to the bus to make the long trek home. What a fantastic experience it has been. My feet are so incredibly sore, and my heart aches to see that little left dimple. I guess that means it's time to go.

See you on the other side!