The first documentary film about the famed Tsukiji fish market was released in Tokyo on Saturday, depicting the everyday lives of unsung seafood professionals, amidst an imbroglio over the site's planned relocation.
"Tsukiji Wonderland" has been released at a time when the wholesale fish market is drawing all the more attention after newly elected Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike recently postponed the relocation of the aging market in central Tokyo, citing safety concerns about soil contamination at the new site.
The 110-minute film, which is not about the disputed relocation but spotlights Japan's food culture and hundreds of intermediate wholesalers in the market who devote their lives to procuring the finest, most desirable seafood, was directed by 38-year-old Naotaro Endo who first visited the market in 2012.