Achieve a Peaceful State of Mind at Tokyo’s One-and-Only Goldfish Farm, Kingyozaka

Achieve a Peaceful State of Mind at Tokyo’s One-and-Only Goldfish Farm, Kingyozaka

Perhaps if Facebook existed back in the Edo period, our feeds would’ve been flooded with a bunch of goldfish doing silly things (but mostly swimming) instead of cats playing the piano or dogs being carried in a bucket. Goldfish was huge in the pet scene back in the Eda era (1603-1868), though it was considered more for the high class. Coincidentally, early into this era was when goldfish farm, Kingyozaka, was said to be established and they’ve been running for over 350 years since.

With a huge 800m2 lake available to them back then, they managed to start off as a goldfish wholesale dealer, turning this huge lake into a natural habitat for the miniature members of the carp family. Though goldfish once had a bigger market with 21 goldfish farms dispersed across the 23 wards of Tokyo, Kingyozaka is currently the only one standing after all these years. The farm houses approximately 50,000 of them in over 40 varieties at their peak, and witnessing this many goldfish is something you could’ve gone without doing ever in your life unless you made your way over to Kingyozaka. kingyozaka-3

The moment you enter, you’re welcomed with a calming sights of locals seated on your left fishing goldfish, as well as an overwhelming number of tanks that are packed with the little orange guys.
Goldfish scooping (Kingyo sukui), a Japanese-festival-favorite where you are given a piece of paper to scoop up the creatures that make an easy escape, is also a popular feature on site. All goldfish on display are also ready for purchase — note: goldfish are powerful survivors that don’t require heaters or an AC to survive over their 15-year-lifespan, and become even stronger after surviving Japan’s brutal winters, proving they’re a hefty pet that will not leave you lifeless after a couple days.

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On your right is a restaurant/cafe that is, to much surprise, decked out with an ample amount of goldfish decor. You’ll quickly learn that this charming and nicely-kept restaurant quietly plays classical music in the background and offers a number of kaiseki (traditional Japanese meal course), with their most popular dish being black beef curry.

We are unashamed that we chose this curry because it was crowned “OSUSUME (Recommended)” on the menu. Thoughts? It’s quite an experience to be soothed by classical music while being surrounded by a copious amount of goldfish decor and have curry in our mouths, all at the same time. Nonetheless, the curry was delicious, not to mention their perfectly tender meat. Their menu also carries different types of cake, coffee and tea, if that’s what you’d prefer during your time of visit. (Note: The cafe menu can only be ordered upon having a regular meal.)

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Ms. Tomoko Yoshida, the 7th-generation owner, has previously mentioned in an interview that “we live in an age where everything is judged by speed. This is exactly why we’d like to slow down the time by having our visitors simply gaze at the goldfish enjoying their daily swim.”

With that said, drop by to admire these adorably picturesque goldfish, and achieve a peaceful state of mind at Kingyozaka.

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