On a sunny winter morning, we made our way to Yoyogi Park, a park known for flea markets and outdoor events. The Earth Day Market held on this day is a popular morning market and is one of the largest in Tokyo with around 50 stalls, mainly selling agricultural produce.

The environmentally friendly bamboo tents are a trademark of this morning market. The safe and delicious, freshly picked agricultural products are popular.

“A characteristic of this morning market is its thorough obsessiveness with organic products,” says Hiroshi Tomiyama, the executive director of Earth Day Market. “Their standards for safety and reassurance are stricter than other morning markets,”says another vendor. 

Another allure of the market is that the vendors themselves are the ones who made the items being sold. Listening to their stories and explanations increases the sense of reassurance and more importantly, it makes you realize that the vegetables in front of you are special.

If you’re a little apprehensive about buying vegetables while on vacation, we recommend other items like the jam, Japanese sake, wine, tea, processed foods like soy bean products, as well as general merchandise like bags and accessories. The majority of these products are organic and fair trade items, and they would make impressive gifts when sent along with an explanation to that effect.

The market is lively with live music as well as hands-on events such as candle making, and the food trucks serving freshly made gourmet food are always a hit. One can experience first hand their connection and relationship with the earth through each one of these fun events. When you feel like stepping out and taking a deep breath while you’re in Tokyo, why not stop by this ethical and comfortable morning market?

The Hills Marché in Ark Hills is a morning market held every Saturday at the Ark Hills commercial complex that straddles Akasaka and Roppongi. You’ll be surprised by the sophisticated atmosphere when you arrive at the market venue, Karajan Place.

It’s only natural as this is one of the largest “celebrity areas.” Shigeto Katayama of the Mori Building Town Management Office, the organizers of the market, explains, “that is the reason why I meet with vendors directly and actually taste and see their products before I decide on who will be chosen.”

With the venue having an atmosphere that reminds you of a European marché, you can also feel a sense of elegance from the customers that gather here.

One of the biggest allures of this marché is the quality of the products sold here. “In fact, the customers want produce and items that they can’t find at the department stores and luxury supermarkets that they normally use,” says Mr. Katayama. That’s why most of the items for sale are freshly picked agricultural produce that one can’t easily buy in the city.

Another good thing for travellers is that there are a lot of fruits, which means there’s no need for any cooking. On the day we went, there were numerous varieties of mandarin oranges from wild and bold flavored mandarin oranges to sweet ones that we had never tasted before, and all of which were so delicious that we wanted to tell someone about them right away.

Processed foods like bread, jam, Japanese sweets, as well as the general goods are all meticulously made. The lacquer ware in particular has a beauty that stands out above everything else, grabbing the attention of numerous people.

Another thing to look forward to is the gourmet food that are prepared for sale at the marché by the restaurants and cafés that circle the plaza. You’re sure to start off your day of sightseeing in high spirits after looking around the sophisticated marché and relaxing on a bench to eat brunch.

The Aoi Heiwa-dori Shopping Street is right near Aoi Station, about 10 or so minutes on the Tsukuba Express from Akihabara. On the morning of every fourth Sunday of the month, this usually quiet street that spans around 400 meters changes drastically, filling up with heavily discounted goods and food at morning market prices.

The approximately 400 meter long shopping street is the venue for this large scale morning market. You can see there a lot of people, even thought it’s still 7 in the morning.

At peak times, approximately 3,000 people come visit this morning market. In addition to the stores that make up the shopping street, farmers from the outlying areas of the Kanto region also set up shop. The vegetables and seafood are popular, but there are tons of cheap and delicious popular foods like the oden (a sort of stew) from kamaboko (cured surimi) stores, croquettes from butcher shops, okowa (sticky rice mixed with other ingredients) from Japanese sweets stores, sushi rolls from sushi restaurants and much more. Once you make your way to the end of the shopping street you’ll find people in high spirits thanks to the sours (shochu mixed with soda) and yakitori served up by the izakaya bars.

Although the average age of the customers at this morning market is higher than the other two we introduced, the vitality of this market is second to none. Once we took aim with our camera, we would hear the owners say “you better take the photo so it looks good!” and the interactions between the customers and the store employees are lighthearted and filled with humor. This high spiritedness that can only be found in the shitamachi downtown will brighten up and energize your morning.

Although the market officially runs from 7am to 9am, there are stores that are already open at 6. “Our whole family gets up at 2 in the morning to prepare, and there are even stores that stay up all night,” says Tadao Hirata, the owner of Yonekyu - a driving force of the morning market. Customers begin to gather before dawn and reaches its peak at 7am when fireworks burst overhead. The number of people then start to dwindle once it gets past 8.

It’s a festival of sorts that lasts only for a brief moment, exactly what you would expect from Edokkos (persons born and raised in Edo, the old name for Tokyo), who hate long, drawn out events. If your schedule fits, make your way over to this morning market and experience the shitamachi atmosphere full of kindheartedness and jam-packed with food!