Just after midnight, trucks with frozen tuna roll into Tsukiji Fish Market. They are there for the early morning auctions. When the workers open the back doors of a truck, they pull the fish out onto a large tire on the floor to break its fall. The tuna is then dragged over the concrete like a huge ice cube and placed in orderly rows.

One night, I was standing on the wharf between a tuna truck and the water. The men unloaded some fish. They swung the doors shut. The truck slowly rolled forward as if it is was leaving. It stopped. Suddenly, the truck roared into reverse and shot backwards. The driver hit the brakes and the load of frozen fish in the back of the trailer hurtled toward the closed doors, hitting them like repeating cannon fire. The men swung the doors open and continued unloading the cargo. Although, when it happen, I was not thinking about what they were doing. I was wondering which was the better choice, getting run over by a fish truck or jumping into Tokyo Bay. Click on the image for a larger view.

Just a stone’s throw from the center of Tokyo is Tsukiji Fish Market. A small city unto itself, this area has a life and vitality that is not really reflected in the offices of the metropolis. Click on the image for a larger view.