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Experience Kanazawa’s bustling nighttime fish auction and get a tour of areas usually off-limits to visitors
Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
While Kanazawa is best known for its 400-year history of samurai culture, it is also an important center for gastronomy.
Ishikawa Prefecture’s location right along the Sea of Japan means access to an abundance of fresh seafood, so you can join the ultimate Kanazawa foodie experience by booking a tour of the evening fish auction. Your guide will take you around the Kanazawa Seafood Market, right next to the port.
During the tour, you will see boats coming into port, the unloading of the fish, and a fast-paced fish auction, all up close and personal. Feel the thrill of competition as the auctioneers call out in rapid fire and sell an array of seafood to the highest bidder.
A “fish master” from the market will tell you all about the secrets of the sea life around Ishikawa before you get special access to the massive freezers, which keep fish fresh at -30 degrees Celsius. Dinner can be arranged after the tour by request.
The market tour runs year round, except for the summer months of July and August.
How to get there
From Tokyo Station, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Kanazawa Station (about 2 hours 30 minutes). The Kanazawa Seafood Market is about 15 minutes by bus from Kanazawa Station.
51 Wo, Muryoji-machi, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa-ken
