Tentacles at Tokyo fish market

Today in my ongoing series of photos from my travels over the years, these tentacles at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, the best excuse I've ever heard for leaving your hotel room at 5AM, and one of the coolest places I've ever been. Link

[#1 posted by Takuan , January 28, 2008 11:24 PM]

mmmm mouthwatering! So hard not to get rubbery tentacles most places. Tsukiji is a good place to be reincarnated. Well, not on a pallet anyway.

[#2 posted by ron___b , January 28, 2008 11:53 PM]

Alternate Tsukiji Tentacles Here!

http://www.ronbrinkmann.com/pictures/japan_web/large-159.html
http://www.ronbrinkmann.com/pictures/japan_web/large-160.html
http://www.ronbrinkmann.com/pictures/japan_web/large-158.html

(and many other varieties of fishy goodness if you click around :-)

[#3 posted by Takuan , January 28, 2008 11:59 PM]

nummers!

[#4 posted by PhantomMut , January 29, 2008 12:20 AM]

Now I'm all hungry.

[#5 posted by Tequila , January 29, 2008 1:14 AM]

Nice pic, I got one just like it, taken back in 2005.
Getting up at 4 in the morning sucked though.

[#6 posted by dhuff , January 29, 2008 6:09 AM]

Cool pic. One of my favorite guidebooks, Rick Kennedy's Little Adventures in Tokyo, suggests a visit there. Said he'd never had better sushi, even if it was for an early breakfast ;)

[#7 posted by capsteve , January 29, 2008 8:18 AM]

when i was in tokyo last, my cousin took the day off to kick around town with me, and asked where i wanted to go. i answered "tsukiji" and she responded with a grimace "tsukiji? why do you want to go there?!?? only gaijin want to go to tsukiji." reluctantly she joined me, and we had a blast. after 4 hours of walking up and down aisles of fish mongers and checking out the tuna's before the tuna auction, we were famished. we walked to a sushi bar across the street from the market where all the truckers and mongers hang out after a hard day of fish slinging, and had an awesome sushi breakfast. i've never had fresher uni than on that day... after we got back home, she stated that it was one of the coolest excursions she's had in years and would be going back soon, even though she's not gaijin.

[#8 posted by Not a Doktor , January 29, 2008 9:09 AM]

the one on the bottom right looks like a pink cactus

[#9 posted by Antinous , January 29, 2008 10:45 AM]

I'm not a vegetarian, but I'm starting to think that eating octopus is creepy. We've had so much info about how smart they are. We've watched them play with their Mr. Potato Heads. It's like eating a dog or a cat. Is it just me?

[#10 posted by 5000! , January 29, 2008 11:03 AM]

Blargh. I really wish you hadn't posted this so soon after Warren Ellis's Japanese octo-porn DVD cover post.

[#11 posted by Xeni Jardin , January 29, 2008 11:06 AM]

@5000, You mean the classic title "The Octopus Invades The Vagina And It Hurts"?

[#12 posted by David King , January 29, 2008 11:19 AM]

"...the best excuse I've ever heard for leaving your hotel room at 5AM..."

Why would you be in my hotel room in the first place?

[#13 posted by batesman , January 29, 2008 11:43 AM]

I agree that Tsukiji is the best reason to get up at 4am (or to not sleep at all. It's Tokyo, fer chrissakes.), but coming in a very close second, Petra in Jordan opens its gates at 5am and if your lucky you have the whole place to yourself. No tourists, no donkeys, no pesky jewellery sellers...not a soul. Making the ascent to a higher plane gives you an awesome sunrise you're not likely to forget!

[#14 posted by Gotanda , January 29, 2008 1:20 PM]

More alien, I mean octopus pix.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tokyofoodcast/465044841/in/set-72157600064088291/

[#15 posted by Cpt. Tim , January 29, 2008 2:19 PM]

I have a huge soft spot for octopuses. To me this picture is like seeing a tub of dead puppies.

of course i shouldn't be one to talk because some people love pigs, and i just love to eat them.

[#16 posted by Takuan , January 29, 2008 2:24 PM]

I never said I didn't feel guilty while chewing.