Buy Catch of the Day at Local Market in Kawasaki North

Kawasaki City Central Wholesale Market, North Market

(Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture) 

【Ichiba (市場) 】is a whole sale market where fresh food and fish are traded. The market is usually open in the early morning to sell the catch of the day. It is mainly for business trade, however, depending on market, a part of the market is open for public. 

Toyosu is the world famous wholesale market which is the largest fish and seafood market in the world but it is not only market in Japan. If you closely look around your town, you will find a market place to support a dietary life for neighbors.

Kawasaki City Central Wholesale Market, North Market is one of them. It is open to the public. You can walk around the market and buy fresh foods. The market sells fresh fish, meat, vegetable and seasonal fruits. A warren of shops and warehouses are lined along three narrow alleys.

At seafood stall, big shells and whole fish of the day’s catch are displayed in ice-filled white styrofoam boxes while supermarket usually sells fish fillets. If you go there in the early morning, you have a chance to see a fishmonger is cutting up a hulk of tuna with a sword-like knife. You can purchase a block of fresh-cut tuna fillet with reasonable price.

Another fun thing to do in the market is breakfast. As the market open at early morning, it might be good idea to have a breakfast there. Restaurants are located at the ground floor and third floor which serve variety of dishes from filled with seasonal ingredient from the market to standard breakfast for workers in the market.

At ground floor, two noodle stands are available. They serve udon or soba noodle with variety of toppings on it and also side dishes like tuna sashimi. It is typical fast-food in Japan. You can buy a ticket from a vending machine then hand it to a store staff. A cook will boil noodle in front of you and put a topping of your choice. Tables and chairs are in front of stands. You can bring the bowl and slurp noodles there.

Restaurants are located at 3rd floor. Each restaurant features its own specialty like Tempura, sushi, Western or Japanese style set meals. A hearty ten-don (天丼) , tempura rice bowl, is one of the poplar dish among visitors. Big shrimp and sea eel tempura are put on rice protruding from a bowl. With one bite a delightful rich salty-sweet flavor of tempura fills your mouth. Kaisen-don (海鮮丼), seafood rice bowl, is another popular dish. It serves delicious rice bowls topped with best fresh sashimi from the market. Common way to eat Kaisen-don is to mix Japanese horseradish, wasabi, with soy sauce and pour over sashimi. Don’t put too much wasabi otherwise it will sting your nose.

A local bus is available to get to the market. The market is far from a train station.