The Kumamoto Wholesale Market was opened in 1963-64 as a general wholesale market, when the fish market and vegetable market, which had been operating in different locations, were relocated. Currently, of the food sold throughout Kumamoto Prefecture, approximately 60% of fruit and vegetables and approximately 80% of marine products are handled at the general wholesale market.
Due to its location of Tasaki, Kumamoto City, it is affectionately known as Kumamoto Tasaki Market.

The market is lined with fresh produce, vegetables, and seafood from Kumamoto Prefecture and Kyushu, as well as from around Japan and abroad, and is lined with shops where you can purchase and taste freshly auctioned ingredients, as well as browse other food and lifestyle items.

Iroha Restaurant opened its doors April of 2020. It has since become so successful that its popular seafood bowls sometimes sell out even on weekdays. They serve breakfast and lunch using fish that arrives every day at 8am. In order to offer variety even to regular customs, Iroha changes the menu a little at a time, offering a slightly different dish every day even while using the same type of fish. 

Depending on what's in stock, up to nine different kinds of seafood are used in their seafood bowl. The large, whole sweet shrimp atop the bowl catches your eye the moment it arrives and the miso that overflows from it has no unpleasant odor, showing just how fresh it is.
Two small bowls are included, and although the dish is quite filling, even a woman can easily finish it off.

During our visit we were able to taste the sweet shrimp, salmon roe, tuna, bonito, salmon, sea bream, octopus, squid, and negitoro (minced raw tuna and green onions).
The soy sauce, which features a sweet taste unique to Kyushu, is sourced from Kagoshima. The wasabi used has a texture and flavor similar to that of grated wasabi, which really enhances the flavor of the seafood bowl.

Besides seafood bowls, other items such as simmered dishes, soba noodles, and udon noodles are also secretly popular. After being asked to provide meals for employees in the market, they have also started to focus on boxed lunches, which can be purchased by the general public if you make a reservation by phone.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Spot information (as of November 2024)

Mr. Inomoto of Marusho Suisan, a wholesaler who has been involved with the market for over half a century and whose work requires discerning eyes, opened his seasonal fish restaurant Uoyoshi over 10 years ago with the hope to "create a restaurant where you can taste the fresh ingredients handled at the market." At the time, there was a restaurant for market employees, but there was no place where customers who came to the market could enjoy a hearty meal of seafood.
Uoyoshi's own professionals select fresh fish, which they purchase at auctions every day at the market. Their sashimi is a particularly recommended menu item; "Once you've tried our sashimi, you won't be able to eat anything else," says the owner.

The 500 yen breakfast, available only on Saturdays, is so popular that people line up from 5:30am. As it is only available while supplies last, it often sells out.
They are also open for dinner, offering set meals as well as a la carte dishes such as sashimi. Many customers come here simply to enjoy the fish rather than merely to drink, and there are many repeat customers from all over.

The great value lunch is a surefire menu that comes with sashimi, a main dish, and a small side dish. The main dish on this day was boiled sea bream. The moist white meat was packed with the fiah's natural flavor. The fillets were large, and the size was such that you could be satisfied with just the main dish.

The type of sashimi served changes every day. The squid is translucent and the tuna is cut thickly, so you can see just how fresh it is.
Marusho Suisan is a tuna wholesaler with a track record, and the soft, sinew-free tuna is impressive! It's no wonder they have so many repeat customers.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Spot information (as of November 2024)

Seafood isn't the only thing you'll find at the market.
Ebisu-kai Shopping Street in Tasaki Market is a covered shopping street with many delicious shops that you'll want to check out as you walk through. Western-style restaurant Turret is located in a stylish corner of a mortar-finished building.

Mr. Yamamoto wanted to open a market restaurant where not only ingredients but also utensils, packaging and everything related to ingredients are gathered. He served as the owner and chef of Cologne Yoshimoto, a long-established French restaurant in Kumamoto City, for 32 years, and some customers from that period have even followed him here.
Mr. Yamamoto handles customer service for all 10 of the restaurant's tables, from taking orders to handling the bill.

Hamburg steak with demi-glace sauce. The lunch menu includes a daily salad and a choice of bread or rice.
The menu hasn't changed since the restaurant first opened, but it has been improved little by little in pursuit of the perfect taste.
The demi-glace sauce takes a week to prepare. French cuisine is characterized by the presence of a specific sauce, such as fish sauce or lamb sauce, and making this sauce is the most time-consuming part and reflects the chef's attention to detail.

In addition to vegetables, the salad is served with three other dishes. On the day of our visit, the dish was pacific saury carpaccio delivered straight from the market, homemade chicken salad, and salé cake.
The carpaccio, chicken, and salad are each served with their own sauce, further enhancing the flavor of the ingredients.

The thick hamburger steak is cooked slowly in the oven after an order is placed. The meat is packed with rich flavor to keep the juices from overflowing and prevent flavour loss, and a lovely aroma wafts through the air.

The mashed potatoes served on the side are also a star attraction. The demi-glace sauce is poured over the mashed potatoes because the chef recommends eating them all together. When you scoop the demi-glace sauce, hamburger steak, and mashed potatoes into your mouth together, all the flavours combine and tastes even more delicious.

The store's name, "Turret," comes from the turret trucks that are often used in markets, and the shop card depicts a pig riding in a turret truck delivering delicious food.

                                               Spot information (as of November 2024)

Choboyaki is a flour-based soul food of Kumamoto that has been around since the post-war period and is also sold in sweet shops. Mr. Asai, the owner of Suehiro, has also been eating it since he was a child, so it is something that is deeply familiar to him.
The long-standing Fukuda-style choboyaki is famous, and Suehiro opened as a continuation of that Fukuda style. Currently, Mr. Asai has made improvements to the dish, giving it its own unique flavor.

Choboyaki is made by baking a thin layer of dashi-flavored batter, which has a strange chewy texture. No chemical seasonings are used.
You can add some shrimp as an added touch, and adding noodles and vegetables will make for a satisfying choboyaki.

What makes it different from the flour-based dish you might imagine is that it contains chopped pickled radish and is grilled with soy sauce instead of tradational sauce. This may be the secret to its nostalgic sweetness.
Sprinkling garlic powder or chili pepper on it also changes the flavor.

The owner Asai mainly works online at the Tasaki Market website and handles fresh fish behind Choboyaki Suehiro. He also does business with Iroha Shokudo, and will sell fresh fish to the general public if you make a reservation in advance by phone. His shop is gradually gaining popularity through word of mouth.
He also runs a children's restaurant next door to Choboyaki Suehiro, where choboyaki are served to children on designated days.

                                             Spot information (as of November 2024)