One thing that everyone agrees is a foodie must-see in Tokyo is the Tsukiji fish market. We were so excited about it we went twice. Well, ok, the first time we forgot to check the online schedule and showed up on a day it was closed. Did you know that there is very little for a tourist to do in Ginza at 6:45 in the morning?

Luckily, the second time we went it was in full swing. We didn't go to the auction, as it starts before the trains are running, and we were staying too far away to walk. But the main market is interesting enough on its own, with every kind of seafood from squid to dried fish flakes, many of which I'd never seen on a plate, let alone whole on ice.

There are a number of sushi places located in the outer market, which makes it a convenient place for breakfast. The sushi we had that morning was the best I've ever had, easily topping meals three times as expensive. It was so different from the sushi that I'd had in the US, that I realized that certain qualities of fish that I had taken for granted were actually signs of age or other imperfection. Mackerel, which I generally think of as mushy, was firm and clean-tasting. Yellow-tail usually strikes me as bland, a one-note taste, but here it was complex and sweet. And tuna, which I generally like anyways, became symphonic, my teeth sluicing through the smooth flesh to release rich fatty roundness and fresh, sweet fish flavor. The tangy-sweet rice, spicy wasabi and salty soy sauce all drew the attention away from and then brought it back to that perfect tuna taste. If there is one fish that saw only a slight improvement over my past experiences of it was salmon, which is by far my favorite sushi fish, and it was then that I realized that I probably like salmon the best just because it ages better.

Perhaps more amazing than the excellent sushi outside the fish market, was the pretty-damn-good sushi on a conveyor belt that we had later in Shinjuku. Only the best sushi I've had in the states could compare to the $1 a plate pieces.