Located only blocks from Tokyo's glittering Ginza, Tsukiji―the world's largest marketplace for seafood―is a prominent landmark, well known but little understood by most a supplier for countless fishmongers and sushi chefs, and a popular and fascinating destination for foreign tourists. Early every morning, the worlds of hi-tech and pre-tech trade noisily converge as tens of thousands of tons of seafood from every ocean of the world quickly change hands in Tsukiji's auctions and in the marketplace's hundreds of tiny stalls. In this absorbing firsthand study, Theodore C. Bestor―who has spent a dozen years doing fieldwork at fish markets and fishing ports in Japan, North America, Korea, and Europe―explains the complex social institutions that organize Tsukiji's auctions and the supply lines leading to and from them and illuminates trends of Japan's economic growth, changes in distribution and consumption, and the increasing globalization of the seafood trade. As he brings to life the sights and sounds of the marketplace, he reveals Tsukiji's rich internal culture, its place in Japanese cuisine, and the mercantile traditions that have shaped the marketplace since the early seventeenth century.
This book is an excellent piece of ethnography of a marketplace in Tokyo, with the particular focus on the trade and economic institutions that operate in this marketplace. The purpose of the book is to provide insights of how economies and markets “are created by the production and circulations of cultural and social capital as well as of goods, services, and financial assets” (pg. xvi).
The author did a very good job in achieving this goal, writing in a semi-academic tone which is very much readable for laymen. This is one of the reasons I like about this book. The author provides a very engaging narrative of how he got drawn into doing the research about this enormous fish market, which channels “roughly 544 billion Yen ($4.7 billion) worth of seafood in 2001, about 2.3 million kilograms a day” (pg. xvi).
Another important reason I like about this book is the author’s methodologies in conducting research in a very fast pace environment of a fish market. He said that the traditional method of participant observation is not possible in such setting. Instead he invented a technique called ‘inquisitive observation’ in which repeated observations are combined with quick and short interviews about what is being observed. I particularly admire his ability to observe and to understand, not only the inquisitive observations and formal interviews, but also in the language and hand signals during fish auctions, all were in Japanese. I find his methodologies very innovative, creative and fitting with the environment of the place he was studying. I learn a tremendous amount of knowledge from his methods.
The important essence I learned about Tsukiji is that like a closed-knit community, Tsukiji is tightly held together by closed everyday personal relations among individual traders which occur through everyday exchanges. The author illustrated this point through an example of how quick individual store owners could recover from a fire that damaged part of the market. After the fire, the affected store owners could get their business up and running the next day due to the fact the infrastructure of trade in embedded in the social capital that they have, i.e. who let them use space in the freezer, who could help them clear away the rubble, restore electrical power, who could give them space to do business the next day, etc.
This understanding allows a possible conclusion that among the most important capitals of the traders is their place in the sociality among other traders, not the “physical building, the freezers, or well-honed knives” (pg. 302). This is important in that it shows the everyday surface operation of the market is very well intertwined and determined by abstract relations built over a long period of time between the members of Tsukiji marketplace. These embedded social relations led to another important feature of Tsukiji which is the place of individual traders in the social institutions. As their place is determined by social relations and participation in the social institutions, any move that alters the social institutions of the market inevitably affects individual trader’s position in those institutions. That is the reason why they wanted to make sure their position vis-à-vis these institutions are not compromised should the market be moved to different location (pg. 303). It is very important for the traders that this social capital is not ‘altered or diluted’ in the wake of any possible physical changes that would occur to the marketplace.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, not only because of the author’s innovative approach to studying contemporary Japanese economic institutions, but also because of the ways the book is written. I found it very interesting to read about the descriptions of the marketplace and how it operates and to understand that social and cultural relations are important determinants in everyday exchanges that occur at Tsukiji. This is a recommended book for those interested in Japan economic institutions, economic anthropology and urban anthropology.
I'm always thinking about getting this for Matt. We went there during our honeymoon and ate still bloody tuna from a sushi bar, bought Matt his knives, and basically tried our best to stay the hell out of the way of commerce. When you see a 300lb tuna being cut by katana and/or bandsaw, you've seen something amazing.
Having always had a softspot for markets and fish markets in particular, finding this book in the university library was joy and reading it even more so, however by the end I did start to feel like "ok I get it" overstaying his welcome a bit made me drop down to three stars while I had been aiming at four. Nontheless for anyone interested in the by now closed market, it is a solid study that should inspire many more including the dedication of non continuous years of field work stretching back almost twenty years.
To start off as he himself notes in the book, the market was to be moved, when printed in 2003 it was not a guarantee but as of 2018 it has closed down. This makes the book both a time capsule and a good benchmark for if and when the same author or anyone else would make a study of the new big Tokyo Sea food market now at Toyosu. However only the inner market moved, the wholesale traders, the hustle and bustle of the carts and the auction houses. What was left behind, was the outer market with more an emphasis on wider audience and high prevalence of restaurants which is still at Tsukiji. This makes it once again a good benchmark, how have things changed since 2018? And has it been as dramatic a change as introduction of refrigeration had been or the ever globalizing reach of the fish supply to this Japanese market?
This book is however an anthropologist book foremost and a good case for usage of Anthropology to study human social behavior and groups dynamics in a "modern" society. I fully concur, I think and this book definitively shows how it can be done, that anthropology as an approach and theoretical framework is worthwhile to pursue when talking about our society and not just limited to "primitive " peoples or things as folklore and funeral rites. The book is full of little moments of social interaction, conventions, unspoken/unwritten rules, family dynamics, craftsmanship, collective memory, tensions between tradition and innovation and both employment and cuisine as markers of identification, its a lot. Which does bring me to my first critique, it is quite a lot to get through as theory, observations and personal experiences intertwine with oneanother to make a thing larger then the sum of its parts. A market is more then a building, it is more then the buyers and sellers, it is more then mere economics.
A few things that stood out to me, scale. the author makes a dedicated effort to impress on the reader how much seafood is/ was sold here and what global reach these often small but also several larger groups of traders have. frantic pace, everybody always seems to be on the move both as consumer preferences as social dynamics, power shifts and the people themselves, I can easily imagine myself be knocked aside by standing still at the worst possible moment. Unity in diversity, for all the different groups of people attending the market ranging from sushi chefs, supermarket wholesalers, savy housewives, demanding gourmands, 4th generation fishmongers, Chinese menials delivering fish etc, they all form part of the market and share that believe that it is or was Tokyo's pantry and that what is sold there at what price, said a lot about the mood of Japans society as a whole. Organisation, it is hard to keep track just how many different forms of social organisation were discussed in the book. It starts off with a band of fishermen part of the entourage of a historical figure Mori Magoumon. Who was that? A fisherman, who supported the founder of the Edo regime, Tokugawa Leyasu at a crucial time and was awarded a chance to found a fish market at Nihonbashi. Given a licence to sell the fish left after the Shogunate had been supplied their due in fish. This is a memory held up by the modern corporations interacting with auction houses and Spanish Tuna farms to this day, a legacy to be proud of but only the start of the vastly complex interlayed social institutions. Its a wild ride of family associations, heritage groups and childhood friends whose shifting positions, according to Theodore, make up the market and set the tone of all the trading, I can't help but be a bit awed by his effort to map it all out as an outsider.
Sadly the last part on visiting the market has now become obsolete and if anything I do wonder how many of the people, groups and dynamics have adapted to the new location and reality. Are disagreements still solved by games of Yanken? How about the lottery every couple of years that mixes up the arrangement of the stalls? Do Gourmands and housewives still walk in even if it was not encouraged? Do people still marry primarily within the wider Tsukiji market network? Could the chapters on licences and the trading companies be a bit shorter? (not my favorites) I had a good time with this book and would heartily recommend anyone interested in the topic of markets and usage of anthropology in contemporary society beyond the usual suspects.
Sushi, and seafood generally, is tremendously important to Japan's economy and, as Theodore Bestor notes early on, the value of what passes through Tsukiji in a single year is valued in the billions. And here is where my interests differ from those of Bestor. I am interested in Tsukiji as an economic engine. Bestor is interested in the anthropological aspects of the market. What makes the sellers tick? How are the various stakeholders connected to one another? What are the origins of some of the traditions at the market? How would moving the market affect the people, the relationships, their sense of self and place and time? These are fine questions, they are, but honestly the answers bored me after a couple hundred pages. Then I began skimming. In earnest.
In the early chapters, Bestor does a fine job making the market come alive, but as the page count rises, the anthropological analysis becomes increasingly academic (read: dull). The most salient - and interesting - points are conveniently available in an article Bestor wrote summarizing his findings. For those wanting more, though, particularly from an economic perspective, I strongly recommend The Sushi Economy, which examines the entire phenomenon of sushi in Japan and around the world.
In this ethnography, Bestor describes the history and current operation of the world’s largest fish market, Tsukiji. With the inner market exclusively for wholesale and exports, and the outer market for local sale, it is constituted of a diverse and bustling array of buyers and sellers. Bestor describes how the market is embedded in local social and cultural networks, alongside its’ global reach. Like any other long standing, localised structure, it is influenced heavily by the Japanese social structures and values that inform prices, vendor approaches, and overall trade. It has evolved local hierarchies and niches, whilst continuing to develop transnational economic relationships. It is simultaneously a global presence and a local landmark.
This was a great book to read and learn about the cultural significance of a major fish market in Japan placed at the centre of the world.
The importance of Tsukiji is is well depicted throughout the text mainly focusing on the ethnography of the market and the functions within a continually busy environment.
It was a great read providing knowledge and understanding on how history shapes the future of a significant fish market.
Fish is eaten everyday in Japanese culture its great to learn how a marketplace shapes the Japanese culture. If this interest you I definitely recommend reading this book
a lot of great detail and history and Japanese culture I haven't seen elsewhere. gave me a bit of insight to what an old-style market place is. not an easy book to read (he is an anthropologist after all) but am happy to have found it.
This book was a happy discovery in the small (and quite, er, varied) English section at the Omori BOOKOFF!
The book starts off with the story of how Bestor became interested in the market, through a trip to a local sushi restaurant while studying in Japan with his wife in the late 1970s. Especially for an academic writing a serious academic book, Bestor's gift for description coupled with an eye for detail and light touch of humour, really brought these scenes to life for me. I could just picture him slipping through the crowded grubby aisles of Tsukiji, notebook in hand, catching busy people for a quick chat or comment. This is real on-the-ground research!
As I am not an economist or particularly drawn to that field, some chapters of this book inevitably interested me more than others. The sections that delved into the history of the market and its predecessor, the Nihonbashi Fish Market (allegedly founded in Edo by fisherman who supplied Tokugawa Ieyasu's armies with fish during his "pacification" of Japan), offered fascinating insight into both fishing and markets within Japan from Edo to Meiji and onward. I was completely unaware, as well, that Tsukiji was the (very unpopular) home to the first foreigner settlement in Edo/Tokyo, prior to the establishment of the fish market. I also found the explanations of marriages between market families, auctioning practices, special argot/hand signals, and stall location lotteries (potentially make or break!) to be very interesting, along with the fact that Tsukiji was operating "backwards" in modern times, as it was designed for deliveries by train but then shifted to deliveries by truck (which came to the other side of the market!).
I was fortunate enough to visit Tsukiji on several occasions before the market closed and relocated to Toyosu...and I still frequently cycle past the site. Because Bestor's book was published in 2004, this move still hadn't happened, so it felt strange at times to read about Tsukiji, knowing that it, like Nihonbashi Fish Market, is no longer there. End of an era, I suppose.
When I cycled past Tsukiji the other day, I was struck by how small the place is. Remarkable, indeed, that as per the title of Bestor's book, this little slab of concrete was for so long "at the center of the (fishy) world."
Remarkable work of scholarship and a compelling, unique account!
Before this excellent Ethnography, I knew little about Japanese cuisine and their cultural practices that revolve around this giant fish market and the meanings it has in Japanese people's lives.
Bestor examines the concept of knowing where our food comes from, in this case being the global trades in fish and marine life to the market in Tokyo, Japan. He starts with intermediaries (traders, wholesalers, retailers, auctioneers, consumers) and places them within the abstract idea of the 'market' to the actual place and location of the market. Tsukiji is a living thing shaped by cultural codes and the cultural embeddings of the market itself.
Bestor talks about what is being exchanged and the meanings that people integrate into Tsukiji, fish, and food. The popular culture around food in Japan aids the understanding that its commodities are historically unchanged and already central to Japanese identity.
Absorbing ethnographic study of Tsukiji in Tokyo, the world's largest seafood market. A jewel of a book that explains the complex social institutions behind Tsukiji's hundreds of morning auctions. Bester portrays Tsukiji's rich internal culture, its central place in Japanese cuisine and the mercantile traditions that have shaped it since the 17th c. Bester shows how the fish market is a combination of (free) marketplace and binding customs that inhibit total competition (much like Japan's economy at large). In this way, Bester in fact provides a powerful analysis of the everyday workings of Japanese culture. "Tsukiji, the Fish Market at the Center of the World" is an academic book, but with a twist, for in an appendix the author provides a tourist guide to Tsukiji as well. You have perhaps heard that the fish market will move to a new location in November this year, but don't worry, it will remain "Tsukiji."
This was a very interesting book. Bestor clearly spent a huge amount of time at the market and his observations of the market are very astute.
The book does fall a little bit into an awkward middle ground between academic work and generally interest non-fiction. Bestor encourages readers to skip chapters if they're not interested. I did not do that but I did skip over some passages that were not that interesting to me. One side effect of the book being written with skipping in mind is there is a little more repetition than I'd like with the same concept or word explained the same way in several chapters.
Overall I'm glad I read the book and I'm certainly looking forward to visiting the market when I go to Tokyo. Reading this in 2016 was interesting as much of the book covers the struggles to modernize and/or move Tsukiji. Until this week that was scheduled to finally happen in November. However it was just delayed again.
I have to be honest and say I only got halfway through this book. It is a very detailed and accurate account of the relationships of the social and cultural and economic aspects of the Tsukiji fish market in Japan. I have been there and it is an amazing place, in many ways. The book is more of an anthropological or sociological treatise and it is very long and dry but has a lot of of very good information if you care about such stuff. I wish he had written a layman's shorter and more summary version of the book as this one is really by an academic for academics, but for that crowd it is probably a five. For me, even with a strong interest in things Japanese, it was too much rowing.
Incredibly well researched and well written book on a fascinating fish market. A lot of my interest stems from having visited Tsukiji, though I had little appreciation for its significance or function at that time. This is a must read for Japan studies folks or anybody mildy interested in the business behind their food hobby.
For a nonacademic audience, some parts are more interesting than others. Some chapters are mind-numbingly abstract/boring as academic research can sometimes be. That said, at least a skim of this book is essential for anyone planning to (or who has recently) visited Tokyo's Tsukiji market. It provides such a wealth of insight on how this fascinating market works.