Tatsuo Ichikawa, 69, is an English-speaking volunteer tour guide and an expert on all things fishy in Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish market. He's not only a serious history buff, but also an osakana meister (fish master), whose mission is to educate the public on the health benefits of eating his favorite food. A former JTB (Japan Travel Bureau) executive, he's been working in the tourism industry for 51 years. Until his retirement at age 61, he was the managing director and general manager of JTB China Tours, Inc. and the company's representative in China. His 50-day, 12-km rough-and-tough tour, called "The Complete Drive Through the Silk Road," won the 1995 Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) Tour of the Year Award.
To eat something, we must first love it. Nowadays, young Japanese are eating less and less fish and I know why! In 1997, 45.2 percent of Japanese children (up to the age of 19) fished for fun. But in 2007 that figure went down to 26.8 percent. If kids don't go fishing, they won't love fish, so they won't want to eat it either.
Japan has no borders so it's a fun experience for us to cross one. We once sat in the immigration building at the Turkmenistan/Iran border, which was filled with pilgrims on their way to the tomb of a religious leader and migrant workers in search of a better life. We spent hours talking to the locals. We were exactly where we wanted to be.