Where do Japanese restaurants get their fish? For most places throughout Japan, there is likely only one answer to this question: the Tsukiji Market. This famous marketplace is one of Tokyo’s more iconic locations, representing a crux of the nation’s fish market that has been supplying the Japanese people with quality seafood for hundreds of years.
The history of the Tsukiji Market starts back in 1657, during the Great Fire of Meireki. This wildfire swept throughout the lands of Edo, driving many citizens out of their homes. The Tokugawa Shogunate, in an effort to accommodate all of the displaced people, set aside a settlement on the coast. It was here that they could draw upon the bounty of the sea to keep themselves fed. The settlement therefore thrived as a fishing community, and set up a market on a portion of the area that had to be reclaimed from Tokyo Bay; they called this market “Tsukiji”, a word that translates to “constructed land”. The market flourished, and has remained an important part of the fishing industry to this day.