Styrofoam isn’t the only thing being recycled here. As the workers at the market break down the fish, the skin, intestines, and bones are left over. These bits are brought here to this processing plant to be broken down and used as fertilizer for fields or mixed into animal feed. The remains of fugu, or blowfish, are unfortunately poisonous and must be transferred to a separate locked storage room and cannot be recycled.

By the way, did you know that tuna is so popular that it is called “the flower of the market?” What’s your favorite part of the tuna fish? The lean meat, the fatty tuna, the head – there are many different edible parts of a tuna, but the most luxurious and delicious part is said to be the fatty underbelly, the Oo-toro. However, in the past, the fatty toro parts were also discarded and brought to this factory. Japanese people did not like foods that were too fatty and preferred the leaner parts. Also, tuna spoils easily, and fish that would go bad while being transported from Sagami Port to Tokyo were not popular. Of all the fish that were quick to rot, toro was the worst, and it was said that even cats wouldn’t touch it.