Besides fresh fish, Tsukiji Market is the place to go to find preserved seafood, including dried cuttlefish, kelp and katsuo bushi or shaved dried fish.

Japanese cuisine takes the preparation of fresh seafood seriously, which makes Tsukiji Market a major place for buying and selling the most astonishingly fresh, high-quality and diverse array of fish and shellfish on the planet. The action begins in the pre-dawn hours, as truckloads of fish arrive from all over the world, including giant tuna (maguro). The most prized blue-fin tuna command thousands of dollars, especially those that include fatty tuna, a.k.a.

"otoro" that simply melts in the mouth when served as sushi.

While Tsukiji is a popular tourist attraction, it is first and foremost a place where business is conducted and food must maintain sanitary conditions -- so visitors are warned to watch for fast-moving trucks and carts, avoid touching any seafood and to not use flash when photographing the fish auction, to avoid distracting the auctioneers and bidders.

• Read more from my Day 2: Tsukiji, Harajuku and Odaiba tour diary
• Visit the official Tsukiji Market website for more photos and info about visiting this amazing wholesale market
• See About.com's Japan Travel guide to visiting Tsukiji Market
• Read more about Pop Japan Travel's Tours
• Visit the Pop Japan Travel website for more photos from past tours and info about upcoming events.
• See more photos from the 2008 Mind Over Manga Tour of Japan