Tuna Auction and Food Travel

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. 😍