Bandai City Fresh Fish Market

Niigata's Bandai Fish Market is a working wholesale market that opens to the public, selling the day's catch from the Japan Sea at prices that would make Tokyo fish lovers weep. The market's handful of tiny restaurants serve astonishing sashimi teishoku and kaisen-don (seafood bowls) piled high with buri, nodoguro, crab, and sweet shrimp, all caught within hours. There's no tourist polish here, just styrofoam boxes, rubber boots, and the freshest fish in the prefecture.