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I absolutely hate standing in line for anything, but I waited for Sushi Dai.

It's a fun cultural experience when you compare it to the throngs of folks waiting for a random sunday brunch in SF or NYC, and the omakase menu was utterly outstanding.

I've also had the great fortune of securing a reservation at Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi Hills (the son of "Jiro Dreams of Sushi"). The meal was extraordinary, but the formality of being watched during every bite (and scolded for holding my chopsticks at a angle instead of perfectly horizontal) meant that Sushi Dai was actually a more enjoyable experience even with the wait.

Just my two cents.

Thank you so much for posting! Is type A (personality) rare/suppressed in Japan? Was whale meat on sale? (I know a whale is not a fish) I hear it tastes oily. (type A jedi shinichi)

Went there 10 years ago, loved the little (what I assume) were homemade vehicles they'd build for carrying stuff through the narrow alleys between stalls. I did actually see a Tuna auction and what struck me was the cadence of the auctioneer, it was identical to the auctioneers at sheep/cattle auctions I went to with my dad in the UK when I was a child. I wondered if that particular cadence is something that comes naturally or spread somehow.

I still remember our guide, who was a retired man who'd previously worked in the market and whom we found on Voyagin) walking us past the line at Sushi Dai. He swept his index finger from the tail of the ponderously long queue all the way to the door, said "See? No Japanese person. Sushi Dai very good, but no Japanese person eat there."

He then walked us a block away to a place he recommended, which had exactly two open seats and very good sushi. It also offered us the guilty pleasure of being the only white people in the place. :)

I've been to several of the joints on that small alley housing both Sushi Dai and Daiwa over the years. The experience is very different from what you get at a very formal and oldschool place like Sushi Iwa [1], especially if you can chat up the chefs (which imo is an essential part of going to a sushi joint).

Personally I'd be okay with waiting 1 hour for Sushi Dai, but that's way below average wait time. The standard wait time is about 4 hours these days. Daiwa is about 45 minutes iirc. Regardless, it's 90% foreign tourists these days anyways, and it's a win-win scenario for the tourists and the restaurants imo. It's like a Velben good -- the longer the wait the more memorable the experience? :P

Agreed that there are plenty of great random places to eat in the outer market. Might be hard for the average visitor to glean which one to visit though.

[1] do they still charge a flat 20,000 JPY for dinner regardless of how much or little you eat?

I haven't been to Iwa for dinner, only lunch. That runs about 7000 yen. FWIW I've found the chef fairly talkative the three times I've been there.

yeah I was just in Tokyo last week, Sushi Dai on a weekday morning still had around a 3h wait at 9am

> They're glossing over the recent rules that tourists aren't allowed in the inner market before 10am, largely after business is done for the day.

>...

>The market is worth visiting, especially if you're coming from the US, meaning the jet lag will have you wide awake at 3am your first morning. Embrace it and head on over.

But what's the point if you can't visit the inner market? Is there a big difference between the inner and outer market?

The inner market is the wholesale market, where chefs and such are buying fish. The outer market is more varied. Dry goods, kitchen supply, lots of restaurants and now a fair number of stores selling tourist kitsch.

As a tourist I actually wouldn't bother getting to the market before 5am. Skip the tuna auction (there are a million videos on YouTube). The subways start running at 5, so catch one then and start with an early bite. Lots of places selling onigiri, find one. If you need caffeine, find a vending machine selling canned hot or cold coffee (often with Tommy Lee Jones staring at you) or try ordering from one of the small coffee shops in the market.

Wander the outer market—there are some interesting stores there. Head outside the market to Shin Ohashi Dori and find a food stall for breakfast. Depending on how much time you've killed, the inner market may be open or you can take a stroll over to Hama Rikyu Kien, a large garden next to the market. Head back after 10 and see the inner market. At this point it's mostly people cleaning up or taking a rest. There's still some business but it's mostly done for the day.

Love the Tommy Lee Jones reference! He's literally everywhere on vending machines in Japan.

I've seen the Boss Coffee commercials on Youtube. Finding out about these commercial campaigns that American actors do in Japan is always fun.

Any ideas how much money he has made from Japanese specific endorsements? I too have seen his face everywhere.

This year I've actually seen more Beat Takeshi than Tommy Lee Jones around Tokyo. The "old Yakuza look" remains hugely popular though.

> you can take a stroll over to Hama Rikyu Kien

I think Hama Rikyu is better appreciated at the end of the experience, once you're tired enough and the little tea room is open. There is something indescribable about drinking tea in slow movements, looking out on the garden (or the bay) from the tatami room, resting your tired limbs, in a very quiet setting after several hours spent in crowded and noisy surroundings.

I went there almost 10 years ago (just me and wife, no kids) and it was an early highlight of my first trip to Japan. HRK itself is not the best garden, the tearoom is not the best tearoom, the tea is not the best tea... but after the hustle and bustle of Tsukiji, the HRK combo can be otherworldly.

> morning after Fukushima

Did you know that there is 2 tons of contaminated fish buried at the corner of the Tsukiji Fish Market? The meanwhile perhaps forgotten incident happened in 1954, when a boat was in the fallout zone from the test of the Bikini Atoll. As a result of the incident in total 460 ton contaminated fish was buried countrywide, spreading panic.

At Tukiji you can see the commemorative plate https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AC%AC%E4%BA%94%E7%A6%8F%E7...

There is a museum in Shinkiba exhibiting the boat http://d5f.org/en/

I went to Daiwa for the second time last September. The restaurant seemed to have its visitor flow worked out — I was seated after maybe 20 minutes of queuing, my omakase set was served up and finished in around 15 minutes, and I was sent out the door as soon as I was done.

It felt very much like I was on a conveyor belt myself.

What strange timing. I just had breakfast there (no idea what restaurant--just walked into the first one I could find that had a VISA sign out front). Of course after jet lag woke me up at 4 am...