Tsukiji fish market

Since we expected to be too late to see much, we were pleasantly surprised when there was still lots of fish slinging going on at 9am when we arrived. The market opens at 3am when the boats come in and the fish auctions start, but we still got to see lots of gutting and hauling, not to mention our fair share of fish blood and guts--enough for a lifetime. After wandering around the mucky wholesale fish area, where the city's sushi restaurants buy their fish, we walked over to the shops and restaurants where Timber bought two hand crafted knives--reportedly the last knives she will ever need. I have to admit that they are lovely to look at, though I'll never be allowed to actually touch them. (no joke).
We then waited two hours in line for a seat at a small sushi restaurant. While there were many to choose from, we figured to be a restaurant in the middle of the fish market in Tokyo, you have to be pretty darn good, so we just got in line and took turns waiting while the other shopped. Since we hadn't eaten anything--in a rush from oversleeping--we bought some tomago to try to fight off the low blood sugar grumpies that inevitably left us with sore backs and sore spirits before we got seated. While not the most pleasant of mornings, I think it made the sushi all the better. You could order piece by piece, but we ordered an 18 piece set as most everyone was doing and let it roll. First we were served really good miso and matcha green tea and then piece by piece of the catch of the day. I'm not sure what to say--it tasted indescribable. The fish absolutely melted, in the best fishiest kind of way. At the end, the chefs told us that we could have two more pieces of our choice. I ordered the salmon and honestly, cried when I ate it. I was so blown away by everything: how good it tasted, the frenzy of the market outside, the huge number of people that have waited for this sushi not only that day but every day, how much training the chefs must have been through, the intentionality of the soup and the fish and the tea, it was a really beautiful moment.
After the market, we had planned to maybe check out central Tokyo and do some shopping, but breakfast was just all too good to ruin it with mobs of people, so we headed back to Asakusa to check out Sensoji temple.