Workers at the famed Tsukiji Fish Market, a popular tourist destination in Tokyo, are a tough bunch who you don’t want to mess around with. Most of us buy our kids toy cars and building blocks. But not Kazuyoshi Watanabe, who owns a wholesale stand in the fish market. Watanabe, who wields his 2-ft long sword literally for breakfast decided to create a toy model that would teach people how to dissect a fish. He teamed up with Hobbystock, a maker of toy models, to recreate 10 genuine parts that you can slice and dice. And that’s just the fish. It also comes with a chopping board, large knife and other parts that all make the experience come to life. But the price tag of teaching your kid to be a badass, sword-wielding fishmonger is not cheap. The model clocks in at 29,400 yen (about $300).
The model maguro (tuna) was released just last week – a timely offering that coincides with some other Tsukiji Fish Market news. Over the weekend a man stole a large fish-cutting knife and started wielding it around, threatening to kill someone. The cops arrived at the scene but the man had already been cornered by the workers. “…he picked the wrong place to do that,” tweeted a worker who observed the scuffle. Indeed, he had picked a fight with the wrong people.
