Tsukishima

Town/Neighborhood in Tokyo

Tsukishima (����, lit. moon island) is a man made island in Tokyo Bay. It was created over 100 years ago using earth that was dredged from the bay during the construction of a shipping channel.

In the last few decades, areas of the island were redeveloped into residential high-rise complexes; however, you can still find remnants of the atmosphere of old Tokyo if you poke around the back alleys and lanes, especially around Sumiyoshi Shrine.

Tsukishima is best known for monjayaki (���񂶂�Ă�), a kind of runny pancake with different ingredients, such as seafood, meat and vegetables, mixed into the batter. A large concentration of monjayaki restaurants can be found along Nishinaka Street, just a few steps from Tsukishima Station.

Tsukudajima used to be a neighboring island that has since been joined together to Tsukishima. It is the birth place of tsukudani (�ώ�), small pieces of food that have been preserved by cooking in soya sauce and sweet sake. It is eaten as a topping on rice.

Any type of food can be turned into tsukudani, but typical foods include seafood such as fish and shrimp, seaweed, beef and grasshoppers. There are three shops on Tsukudajima that have survived since the Edo Period including the first ever tsukudani shop.