Restaurants at Tsukiji seafood market are now offering more foreign produce after years of “disinclination toward fat foreign-cultured fish”.
Jiji reports that ’saamon’, the Japanese word for salmon which includes Atlantic salmon and trout, is on the rise, at the country’s historic market.
The fish market in Tokyo, which is the world’s largest, has been in operation for over 80 years and is famed for its tuna markets – which often sell for a hefty price.
The publication reported that many restaurants in the market did not offer salmon at the former site, for reasons including their “passion for homegrown natural fish” and “disinclination toward fat foreign-cultured fish”.
But now at the new market, relocated to a more modern site in Toyosu, about 2km away in 2018, more vendors and restaurants are stocking Norwegian and Scottish salmon.
An official told Jiji that the rise is down to the quality of imported salmon which has been “improving considerably”. This was coupled with salmon’s popularity in sushi restaurants among foreign tourists in Japan.
