, "karei" (sole) and "asari" (littleneck clam).

Koizumi and his friends held a party in late September at an "izakaya" pub in Tokyo's Fukagawa district, drinking sake and dining on marinated whiting, sea bass and goby from the bay.

"Almost all the ingredients except for 'maguro' (bluefin tuna) are available" in Tokyo Bay, said the owner of a sushi restaurant in the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo.

He and the others at the party are part of a panel headed by Koizumi.