. in the middle of tokyo, it takes up an area equivalent to 32 foot all fields. nearly 1000 food materials are traded here daily. fresh fish and shells from the seas surrounding japan, all sorts of fruit and vegetable from all over japan. today's focus is the highest value fish in fiji, tuna.

tuna has always been the top choice of the world. it is now an extremely valuable fish. >> 190 kilos. >> for years, the best years of tuna. from fiji. ♪ the market. 10:00 at night.

>> right now it's pretty quiet but i heard after a while things get active. i see some trucks over there. it's time for the delivery of two. for tomorrow's morning auction -- it is time for the delivery of tuna for tomorrow's morning auction. i found a sturdy box in the unloading area. it is at least two meters long. i'm really excited to see what this looks like in this condition. loved by the japanese, it continues to roll in. tuna in wooden boxes are brought to the auction market.

a box reading 138 kilograms. here it comes. it is filled with ice. a gigantic raw tuna! it's huge. it's roughly twice what most people weigh. >> it is about 1.5 meters long. ice completely fills the box. thanks to the ice, tuna are kept fresh without damage and arrive at the market. at half past 4:00 in the

morning, about 220 tuna are lined up. >> you can see from the markers where they have come from. this is from nagasaki. >> tuna, cod, and nagasaki, west of japan. >> this one is from -- >> each has a marker noting its weight and where it was caught. there are tuna from areas other than japan. >> these are from thailand. >> some are from thailand. this one is from taiwan. even from new zealand. >> the say they are from mexico. what is interesting is how the fish from all over -- like japan, different parts of the world have come here to be sold

at market. >> they are brought to the market by air. flying tuna in to ensure maximum freshness was pioneered by the japanese. proof of how much they value tuna. at 5:00 in the morning wholesalers are gathering at the market. there are about 150 tuna wholesalers at the market to trade nothing but tuna. how do wholesalers buy tuna? >> this is the eighth generation of a tuna trading company with a 150 year history. how does he select tuna?

first, he touches the surface of the tail section to check the meet. -- to check the meat. by kneeding the meat, he can tell how well it is marbled. how do you know which one is best? good wind? >> when eta is in good shape -- when a tuna is is in good shape they say it has the same character as win. and a person with elegant atmosphere is referred to as having good wind. in other words, like these tuna. >> a bluefin catches his attention. it weighs 190 kilograms. >> it was caught north of japan.

they are famous for their top quality marbled meat. they are sometimes treated at several tens of thousands of dollars per fish. one cannot tell the real value of tuna without cutting it open. wholesalers must guess if it is as good as they expect. how much they pay at auction is another issue. >> this man is not sure if he should by this tuna. -- if you should buy this tuna. not calling to you? >> a tuna costs several

tens of thousands of dollars. making the decision is a big bet. [bell] 5:30. time for the tuna auction. >> [auctioneer calling in japanese] >> traders call out their prices. wholesalers use quick hand signs to signal their intended prices. the hand signs are a tradition. the auction last just 10 minutes. wholesalers immediately bring tuna they gbubuy back to their stores. >>he did not buy the bluefin tuna from oma. he bought a smaller one.

time to slaughter. it is a moment that the wholesaler gets tested. at a glance, it is apparent if his decision was right. >> [speaking japanese] >> in the store, the tuna he picked are displayed. he points out the different parts of the tuna. >> each part has a different name, depending on how rich in fat it is. this is the part that is richest in fat.

it is also succulent in fat. this is the muscle part with less fat. >> richness varies from tuna to tuna. every single fish is different. tuna experts work in skigi. the time is 8:00 in the morning and a delicious smell fills the air. >> this is a tuna specialist

with 38 years under his belt. after morning work, they prepare breakfast for his staff. today, he grills tuna jaw meat. and serves it with tuna soup. he cooks for his young staff so they can taste the different parts of the tuna. >> now it is ready. he carefully scrapes all of the meat off the bone. ♪

it looks a bit stringy though. >> [speaking japanese] >> what surprised me the most is they use every part of the tuna, without any waste at all. >> fat can be extracted even from a scale. fat extracted from scales, bone, and skin are used for supplements. >> there is actually nothing

they don't use. there is actually not much of the fish that is wasted, which is very impressive to me. by spending time with tuna professionals, i learned the japanese really respect tuna and handle them with care. >> the center of food in japan. tsukiji. not just ingredients, but any item relating to food can be found here. this is a nice store celebrating its centennial. japanese steel knives sharp enough for precision slicing are quite popular tourist items. periodical sharpening maintains

a clean cut, but nowadays there are a number of japanese who do not know how to sharpen their knives. knife sharpening classes for ordinary people are available in tsukiji. this owner of the knife store is a lecture. -- is a lecturer. he sharpens knives with a grindstone. he starts with the basics. >> [speaking japanese] >> if you can sharpen a knife, you can maintain your knives for yourself.

in the case of this knife with nicked edges, the knife gets sharpened before you know it. >> [speaking japanese] >> no more nicked edges. with proper maintenance, the life of tools can be prolonged allowing you to use them for a long time. even with knife maintenance, you can see the japanese m mindset of using things with care. the japanese love tuna. most people might think of tuna just as so she me -- sashuimi

or sushi. but japanese cooking offers many ways to enjoy tuna. >> now i'm at a tuna restaurant featuring high-grade tuna from tsukiji. >> [speaking japanese] >> a dish of tuna head meat. tuna smoked with cherry wood chips with cream cheese and was sabe -- and wasabi. >> [speaking japanese]

>> the second dish. enjoyed with was the sire sauce -- with worcestshire sauce. >> [speaking japanese]

>> [speaking japanese] >> and there is a surprise dish. >> i'm a little bit nervous because they said there is a surprise menu that they will bring out. so i don't know what it's going to be. >> [speaking japanese]

>> enjoyed with a traditional japanese blend of seven spices. ♪ >> mmm! [speaking japanese] ♪

>> because the japanese know how delicious tuna is and they love it so much, they have invented ways to enjoy tuna without any waste at all. i respect the japanese and their love of tuna. >> in japan, people enjoy raw tuna. but in other parts of the world it is largely used for canned food. thanks to the increasing popularity of japanese food, tuna has also become very popular. decreasing numbers of tuna due to overexploitation is currently a big issue. tuna wholesalers in tsukiji have taken the global initiative in protecting this precious resource. this is the office of a tuna

wholesaler. >> [speaking japanese] >> they are collecting markers and heads. they contact wholesalers after the auction and gather heads wholesalers do not need. then they offer those markers and heads to a research institute. >> [speaking japanese] >> inside the tuna head, there is an ear bone with lines. ike annual rings of the tree the number of lines on the bone tell the tuna's age. with the location of where the tuna was caught, its weight and

age listed on the marker, researchers can get a clear picture of tuna ecology. they can then identify ocean areas highly populated with young tuna and protect them from overfishing. it is critical for japan to protect its precious ocean resources. furthermore, researchers have been working on a difficult project for breeding tuna without tampering with natural resources. the fisheries laboratory at the university is the first institution to succeed in hatching and raising tuna from farmed eggs. this was a great achievement a cop list by outstanding japanese technology together with the enthusiasm -- accomplished by outstanding japanese technology together with the enthusiasm of tuna lovers. >> we visited the facility. this person is the general

manager of the laboratory. he has worked on this over 40 years. >> [speaking japanese] >> in this preserve, there are 200 young fish, 45 centimeters long. all of them were born here. they eat the small fish. >> oh. [speaking japanese]

>> baby tuna hatched 30 hours after the eggs are laid. they measure just three millimeters long. when the research began, the ecology of tuna had not yet been clarified and the initial survival rates 10 days after hatching was a mere 0.1%. tuna have a wide migrating area and a large diet, so research was largely trial and error. but the researchers never gave up, finally succeeding in shipping farm raised tuna. >> i'm going to take a look at the tuna being shipped. ♪ they now shipped 2000 tuna per year.

in this preserve, which measures 30 meters across, swims a third-generation of artificially hatched tuna. ♪ it takes three years to grow 40 kilograms. it's time to catch. they pick up each tuna with care. complete farm raising has become a success, and this tuna shipping business is now on track. for the japanese including this man who has come to be known as

those doing the most for to know, the challenge is just beginning -- the most for tuna the challenge is just beginning. >> [speaking japanese] >> the shopping district near tsukiji has a restaurant serving

tuna. since opening two years ago, it has been hard to get a reservation. the most popular dish is that the tuna sashimi. well, what do you think? tsukiji market. every day, there are long lines in front of sushi restaurants. >> everyone is in line here in tsukiji for the famous sue showed -- for the famous sushi. i think may be the toughest guys in tsukiji could be the workers.

you can tell by this line outside of the shop that this is the king of tsukiji. >> in tsukiji, every ingredient has its own story.

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rom pacifica this is democracy now! >> the truth is, the only people we know or i know who would benefit from a decision by the united states not to purchase a paid in the tpp would be international competitors -- participate in the tpp would be international competitors. amy: as the obama administration praises the benefits of the tpp, the trans-pacific partnership, backlash continues to grow against the deal. wikileaks ha