A celebration of Japanese cuisine at Wegmans in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. is bringing the excitement of Tokyo’s famed Toyosu fish market straight to customers in the store.

On Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., a large space within the Market Café ordinarily dedicated to self-serve prepared food bars will be transformed by ice tables filled with stunning displays of exotic fresh fish flown in overnight from around the world (while supplies last).

The ringing of a brass bell signals the start of the main attraction: A Maguro no Kaitai show at 12 p.m. on both days. In the time-honored Toyosu fish market tradition, the show will feature a whole, farm-raised bluefin tuna, masterfully taken apart with a 6-foot knife and filleted in front of the crowd. A live video stream projected onto large screens provides a bird’s-eye view for those not surrounding the cutting table. The tuna is portioned and the final cuts are made into sashimi-style pieces called saku blocks, which are then packaged and carried out on trays for customers to purchase.

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A crowd-sized game of “rock-paper-scissors” played in Japanese offers a coveted award to the final players: a free package of nakaochi, a highly-prized scrape of tuna from the bone. There’s also an auction of toro, the valuable fatty tuna belly known for its melt-in-your-mouth flavor and tender texture.

Cut fish orders are taken with the help of Japanese translators from Uoriki, as well as several fluent Wegmans employees. Among the varieties of sashimi to order are octopus from Toyosu, scallops from Hokkaido, uni (sea urchin) from California, and Kampachi(similar to yellowtail Hamachi) from Kagoshima.

“This event gives us the opportunity to highlight our culinary experts and bring in some rare products and ingredients that our customers wouldn’t typically find in this region,” said Wegmans King of Prussia Store Manager Kevin Lang.

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