Our group had the opportunity of visiting Tsukiji Fish Market two days ago and while we left the hotel a bit too early for our brains to fully function, we were certain about one thing – that we were definitely in for a treat for breakfast today!
Tsukiji Fish Market is a wholesale market for fish, fruits and vegetables in central Tokyo. Think about it as Japan's equivalent of our country's Jurong Fishery Port, except we were at the area for quite possibly THE sashimi meals of our lives, served as fresh as you can get off the hook at a small street laden with little shops that seat no more than 10 to 15 people.
The reason for our early arrival was due to the fact that long queues for the restaurants start as early as 8am, from both locals and tourists alike, ergo explaining the need for us to get there pronto!
Along with fellow travelmates Charmaine, Jerald, Nicolene and Xavier, the five of us settled for one of the smaller restaurants with a simple exterior decor that made its presence so inconspicuous, we didn't even notice that there was nobody queuing outside of it when we were walking down the street!
While the other restaurants had vibrant, elaborate visuals displayed neatly right by the entrance for potential customers to see what they're going for, this one had none of that, which probably meant that deciding to dine there was not the best decision considering there was a dubious exterior and lack of a queue compared to the other stores. But craving for an adventure, we took the risk nonetheless. How wrong can sashimi go when you're at the fishery itself anyway?
To our surprise, the interior of this little shop was stunningly different – the walls were covered entirely with photographs of the shop owner posing happily beside people who have patronised his humble restaurant previously, mostly tourists, and pictures of the menu items. The shop space was just barely 4 metres wide and could only seat about 10 people at a time.
The owner, Jiro-san, was enthusiastic in greeting us and was surprisingly rather fluent in English! He then proceeded to serve us green tea in big mugs, which we found out upon scrutiny came from various countries in the world. My cup was from a Starbucks in Switzerland, and Jerald's was a mug from Taiwan.
What made this an interesting experience was the fact that the Jiro-san backpacks often and is able to speak a total of 9 different languages, including English, Mandarin and even Thai! I can't even master my own mother tongue, and thinking about learning another 7 languages fluently just sounds like a nightmare.
He even took the effort to teach us basic Japanese, such as saying "onegaishimasu", meaning "please" and gave useful examples that we can apply to our stay in Japan. He even used Singlish comparisons to aid us in our learning - instead of saying "Ok lah" and "Thank you lah", you simply replace it with "Ok desu" and "Thank you desu". Yes, Jiro-san knows his fish, but he sure knows how to teach Japanese too!
Jiro-san's restaurant has amassed widespread media coverage over the years, including our very own 8days publication! He proudly showed us a collection of magazine clippings, mostly reviews of his restaurant, as we devoured our sashimi bowls, which we all agreed was the best breakfast we've had in our lives.
I think what impressed me the most about Jiro-san was the fact that not only was he well-travelled, but he even took the effort to learn and remember characteristics of each culture he experienced. I think we can all learn from this because learning about someone's culture is not always about asking questions. It's all about listening - and not forgetting what you encountered.
Upon mentioning Singapore, Jiro-san was immediately able to tell us about Jurong (of all places!), Singlish, and many other things that are uniquely Singaporean. This guy clearly knows what he’s talking about.
Japan’s service standards are probably one of the highest in the world, and Jiro-san has clearly shown us that hospitality goes beyond work efficiency and smiles. I will probably patronise his humble restaurant again when I come back, and bring back this photo for him to add to his wall collection!
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