I have never been to a tuna auction in Tsukiji, in all the years that I have lived here in Tokyo. Funny that I would witness it in Wakayama, unplanned, when we went for a pilgrimage across the mountains. Well, who would have thought right?
Kii-Katsura is probably my favorite fishing town, exceeding Izukyu-Shimoda and Atami in my rank 😁. Maybe because, it has its own unique vibe and local cuisine to offer.
After a 5-day hike, we sought refuge in this serene coastal town, with not much planning, just following where our stomachs would lead us to.
The timing was a blessing in disguise. Golden week is a week-long holiday in Japan, but surprisingly in this area, even the restaurants were closed! We were lucky because, we ate so many tasty meals with just limited options.
We arrived at Kii-Katsura at noon and walked around the quiet market place, where most of the shops were closed.
We headed to a public foot spa near the port but changed our minds after realizing the water temperature was not that hot. The sun was, at least. So we sun bathed and ate broiled sweet potato!
I would like to introduce, mehari-zushi, Wakayama's local rice balls wrapped in fermented mustard leaves. It's filled mostly with pickled plum, but there are also other varieties. I did not know if I had eaten mustard leaves before so I was hesitant to take a bite, but man, it was really delicious and we ordered some more.
The shop also served deep fried skewers (kushiage), which I would eat anytime of the day. Our tummies were happy!
The night breeze was pleasant, our tummies were full, so we walked around the area for a bit before heading back to our hostel. There were snack bars (hostess bars) open, but nothing much for the younger crowd.
The next day, we headed to the fish market at about 6 am to see the tuna auction. It was located at the far end building, and could not find it at first. Luckily, we met an old Japanese couple who showed us where the auction was. On crowded days, only groups with guides are allowed to go up to the second floor for a better view. That day we were free to observe wherever we wanted to.
We heard that since the pandemic, there had been not much business going on. And that the tunas on different seasons are also much bigger. Just about time for breakfast, we headed to the port and ate our obligatory tuna sashimi. To my surprise, they had ube ice cream and mango sorbet! It was still about 8am, but anytime is the best time for ice cream, yes?
We had a digestive walk to the other side of the town, also to find a cafe near the coast, which was closed, of course.
Teppanyaki was for dinner! Yes, we basically just ate non-stop. This restaurant had a world map on the wall and asked their foreign guests to mark their countries. The owner was assisted by his teenage son, served us really delicious steak and vegetables.
Before flying back to Tokyo, we took a train to Shirahama and hung out near the beach. We told ourselves we were going to start an intense diet when we're back in Tokyo; but since technically we were still hours away, it was still okay to indulge in these delicious foods.
Shirahama beach was super white it was blinding. We sat their for a while, contemplating and just soaking up the blessings and the wonderful experience we have had in that week-long holiday. 😍
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Oh my gosh! That's so good and thanks for the wonderful tour. The tuna auction is the highlight for me. I bet you had fun strolling around and enjoying local foods as well.
Heyyyy thanks for stopping by! It was indeed a lot of fun and interesting things to experience!
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Wow, that's a lot of tuna. ☺️
Indeed it was a wonderful experience of yours. I am mesmerized by the size of each tuna.
It was also super expensive, it was all in Japanese but if I heard it right, some costed around 500k~ pesos 😬
Oh my gosh!
Super expensive... Hahaha
I love tuna. Here, we make tuna into hot and sour soup and fried tuna with chili sauce.
Tuna with chili sauce sounds good!
Tuna sashimi so fresh, making me so hungry now! Never been to any auction, so this is so interesting!
Surprising to see few people in Shirahama! Where are the people?
im still not a fan of tuna though (the mercury scare still affects me, lol) 😅
hmmm it was high noon that day in Shirahama, there were people on the other side, but too 'sexy' to catch on camera lol.. ah btw, the sand here was imported from Australia!
That’s news to me! Didn’t know about that. I just wondered why it’s white there when everywhere else is not so white.
It pays to be ignorant, see I’m not scared of tuna 😂
Such a beautiful tour with good and tasty food
Indeed, indeed 😻😻😻
I bet that tuna costs around $5,000
🥹 delicious expensive looking tuna..
Thank you for the tour 😍
I think there were huge ones valued even more! 😬
$10,000 for sureee
So much food, so interesting looking! I bet the taste is even more amazing :)
Definitely super tasty! 😺
I've never heard of such an auction before? The tuna seems quite large indeed. I'm not sure if there would be a bidding war among some customers at the auction 😂.
It looked peaceful hehe but i heard from other places some tunas are really expensive and people really race on bidding.
I enjoyed reading your article, it is an excellent exhibition, almost all the fish are on the ground and the food looks delicious. It was an enjoyable journey for me.
Hello, thank you for your kind words. The food was absolutely delicious!
I would like to be there and taste those dishes, you are really lucky
So much wonderful food, that must have been a great vacation!
It was a very memorable vacation indeed!
Good food and nice place is a great combination to have awesome time with near and dear ones.
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It's one of the best and interesting trip for quality time spent with loved ones indeed!
You know how to eat on vacation! Looks fantastic!
One of my motivations to travel...discover local cuisine!
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Heyyyy @LivingUKTaiwan, thank you for stopping by! 😘😘😘
Aludos, de verdad ellos tienen mucha variedad de comida, en tus fotos tan bonitas se puede apreciar los rico y variado de su gastronomía, igualmente esa subasta de atún de verdad me hubiera gustado estar allí, el atún es mi pez favorito, lastima por acá es muy caro.
Oh, I haven't seen something like tuna auction like this before. Well, I only enjoy tuna and this is my favorite which I do not even know where it is from in my country, mostly import from neighbors country. This is a very cool content. By the way, the way that the vegetables have been roll is so perfectly fine.
Hello thank you for dropping by, the vegetable roll had a very pleasant taste and they're very hearty and healthy!
Interesting tuna auction! The food makes my stomach growls... especially the beef sprinkled with deep-fried garlic.👍
Ohhhhh the beef was super juicy!
What an amazing tour this is! How wonderful it is that you had such a chance to witness a Tuna auction. Seeing all those foods made my tummy growl 😂
I !LUV your stunning shots!
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Thank you for your sweet comment, Im glad you enjoyed my content! Hope to see you around! 😺
You're very welcome and thank you too. It's great to travel around those places through your page😊
I'm glad you had a great time and that Kii-Katsura surpassed your expectations. It's always great to discover new places and make memories that will last a lifetime.
You are absolutely right! Let's travel as much as we can and enrich our soul and memories 😻
Fish markets are amazing.
Growing up on The Scottish coast I used to visit ones in fife many moons ago!
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I bet you had a lovely childhood! Scotland must be a very wonderful place to travel to.
A great tour, really enjoyed the post.
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Thank you for stopping by, have a great day!
Wow, looks like a great time. I definitely would have indulged as well.
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Indeed it was! See you around!
Well now it happened again! I am hungry. That auction market looks really interesting. And the sashimi, OMG I just can imagine how great it is to eat tuna that fresh.
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Even if it's not my favorite, the freshness of the tuna made me forget that fact, and I was happy I indulged. Good food really makes people happy. Thanks for stopping by!
I see the five day hike has been well rewarded with some delicious food and great places to take photos.
What a peaceful place this is peaceful and pristine.
Surely it was worth all the time and energy you spent in getting there.
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Hello, thank you for dropping by, indeed we had a great time it couldnt be more perfect.
Wow, what a great (foodie) post! I love tuna, just not the tinned kind. You can't get much fresher than that. I often make it in sushi or sashimi, but my favourite way to prepare it is to marinate it in soy sauce, then coat it with mustard, dip it in sesame seeds and then give it a quick sear. But he believes that these dishes are much better. Thank you for sharing!