The planning process to build the Yokohama Central Wholesale market actually began in 1923. However, the next year the Great Kanto Earthquake put the construction on hold. The market was finally completed in 1931, but then WWII began, and due to the controlled economy during the war it was forced to distribute rations. It wasn’t until after the war that the wholesalers were finally able to freely trade their goods. To commemorate achieving this goal, they built a portable “mikoshi” shrine.

There are various decorations on the shrine that represent this marketplace, such as fish, octopuses, and spiny lobsters. These elaborate decorations are so intricate that if this shrine were to be damaged, no craftsmen alive would be able to repair it. Despite this, every year in November when the Market Festival is held, this 550-kilogram shrine is paraded around the local area in order to bring prosperity to the market.

Why are these fishmongers so daring, you may ask? This goes back to the Edo Period. In those days, when a Daimyo’s procession passed, people were meant to stop what they were doing and bow to the ground and wait for it to pass. However, a fishmonger's livelihood depended on the freshness of the fish. There was a chance that while they were waiting the fish would go bad, so they were the only group allowed to leave the procession amongst all the other bowing people. They held a special place amongst the common people. It is said that fishmongers are a group who never shy away from a brawl and this is why they are drawn to the profession.