Part 2: How Does Food Trigger Joy? Here are the World's Most Brilliant, Walkable Outdoor Markets [Tsukiji Market Tokyo]

This is going to sound cliché, but I have had a strong desire to go to Japan after watching Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Not just to taste his food, although that dream remains on the bucket list, but to witness Japan’s culture, discipline, architecture, urbanism and landscape.

My trip to Japan last month did not disappoint. I started my posts about Japan with this series focusing on outdoor markets, because we visited two phenomenal markets when traveling - Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo and Nishiki Market in Kyoto.

Tsukiji Market is a joyful surprise. As the largest wholesale fish market in the world, it interrupts the vertically dense urban fabric and defines the Chuo Ward with it’s own distinct character. Also within Chuo, is the entertainment and luxury shopping district of Ginza. The Nihonbashi area of Chuo has historically been associated with the fishing industry and culture. The local, small-scale shopkeepers still hold a large stake in Tokyo’s food industry and can be seen using carts for deliveries to the sushi restaurants in Ginza and Tsukiji. The market is a unique trading hub and farmer’s market in the center of the city.

Luxury shopping

Mod Bar

Ginza

There are two distinct areas of the Tsukiji Market, the inner and outer markets. The inner market is restricted to licensed, intermediate wholesalers where approximately nine hundred dealers operate small stalls, and where fish auctions take place. The stall positions are reassigned every four years, to continue an equitable process. Since location matters, wholesalers will come together to enter the stall lottery to secure a better location. Merchants construct their own storage or office spaces above their stalls, each using the market’s permanent infrastructure in a different way. This reflects the joy we find in an unobstructed ability to express ourselves and grow. Such freedom delights us because it enables us to pursue things that matter to us.

The outer market is a mixture of wholesale and retail shops and many restaurants, especially sushi restaurants. It consists of a traditional pattern of small, narrow lots and narrow streets. Just as we can see patterns in the urban fabric, we can feel, sense and perceive patterns of joyful elements in the public realm: nature; sunlight; round things; pops of bright color connecting us to evolution, life and culture; symmetrical shapes; a sense of abundance and multiplicity; and, a feeling of lightness or elevation. Markets connect us to an ancient form of public life where goods were traded for both politics and pleasure and where the market existed as a workplace and residential community. The traditional merchant-house is represented in the outer market, with extended roof canopies, an open ground floor for retail, and residential quarters above. All space within the outer market is maximized and the apparent chaos has a loosely defined order: sushi restaurants are located within the center of the block, food stalls open to the main road, and small residential units above are rented from the local shrine. One thing we all need to reduce anxiety is some sense of order. It appeals to our rationality and protects us from the unpredictability of our surroundings. Order requires balance, and the market's complexity helps us appreciate the order that exists. Tsukiji is a diverse neighborhood that has grown over many decades, and has harmoniously adapted to an urban environment that is constantly evolving. When the neighborhood comes together within the market’s public space, the result is a communal joy. Our brain rewards us for being social by releasing a happy chemical, oxytocin. Great public spaces are kind of magical good. They never cease to yield joy. They are joy itself. Inducing positive emotions through design can completely alter the way we experience a space.

Narrow streets and lots

Food stall facing the main road

Retail shop facing the main road

Street vendor along the main road

Tsukiji Market

Research shows that we love surprises. We are wired to want to explore our surroundings and seek new experiences. New experiences are inherently unpredictable, so they are packed with surprises. Novelty releases another happy chemical, dopamine. Tsukiji Market is so complex with layers of history that there must be a sense of novelty every time you are there. When we were in Tsukiji Market, I felt like a kid in a tuna store! We stayed in Ginza and experienced the retail shops within the outer market and ventured into the blocks to find a tasty sushi restaurant. You cannot go wrong at any sushi restaurant within Tsukiji, especially if you have a tuna “flight.” Instead of tasting a variety of fishes, try varying cuts of tuna ranging from lean to fatty. Each piece is a shade of red or pink and they all melt in your mouth. We were so spoiled from the experience that the tuna from anywhere else on our trip did not stack up. The inner market stall-holders truly have the experience and eyes for good quality produce!