Tsukiji Market was a major tourist attraction in Tokyo, drawing visitors from Japan and around the world. The market featured retail shops, restaurants, and restaurant supply stores. Until its closure in 2018, it was the world's largest wholesale fish and seafood market. Established on February 11, 1935, it replaced an earlier market destroyed in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. The market closed on October 6, 2018, and its wholesale operations moved to the new Toyosu Market.
I visited Tsukiji Market in 2016, two years before its relocation. Leading a small group of travelers, I found it to be one of Tokyo's most memorable highlights.
Tourists could enter after 10:00 AM, once active trading had finished. Arriving after 11:00 AM wasn't advisable—vendors and staff would be busy cleaning and preparing to close. The most dedicated visitors could watch the tuna auction at 5:00 AM, but securing a spot required arriving well before then and waiting in line, as only 150 tourists were permitted entry.
Tsukiji Market and Tōkyō-Shijō station both opened on February 11, 1935, marking the launch of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Central Wholesale Markets system. This system included three major markets: Tsukiji, Kanda, and Koto.
The market featured sushi restaurants, small pubs, and vendors selling exotic Japanese goods like seaweed, tea, and souvenirs. On our first day, we were fortunate to find the only open sushi restaurant and secure a table. Everyone in our group enjoyed what was perhaps the most authentic sushi experience possible. When I returned on subsequent days, the queues outside these restaurants were enormous. Our luck in dining there was likely because we visited on a non-working day.
Tsukiji Market had the world's most diverse selection of fish and seafood. Many species were unfamiliar to me, and it was daunting to consider eating creatures that often stared back from their water-filled containers and pools. What impressed me most was the staff's remarkable work ethic—their constant cleaning, washing, and enthusiastic selling, all with focused determination.
The market handled over 480 types of seafood and 270 other products, from modest seaweed to premium caviar, tiny sardines to 300 kg tunas, and controversial whale species. Tokyo's three seafood markets collectively processed more than 700,000 metric tons of seafood annually, valued at over 600 billion yen (approximately 5.4 billion US dollars in August 2018). Tsukiji alone traded about 1,628 tons of seafood daily, worth 1.6 billion yen ($14 million USD). The market employed between 60,000 and 65,000 registered workers—including wholesalers, accountants, auctioneers, company officials, and distributors—with 900 licensed dealers.
The market was organized in blocks, each ending with payment counters where women collected money from traders. Small electric vehicles provided transportation within the market, minimizing air pollution. Despite the enormous volume of fish being processed, the market was remarkably free of the strong fishy odors one might expect.
Most mornings, the market opened at 3:00 AM (except Sundays, holidays, and some Wednesdays), when products arrived from around the world by ship, truck, and plane. The unloading of massive frozen tuna was especially impressive. Auction houses (oroshi gyōsha) assessed the value of incoming products and prepared them for auction. Licensed buyers then inspected the fish to determine their bidding strategies and price points.
By 5:20 AM, the auctions began, with only licensed participants permitted to bid. These included intermediate wholesalers (nakaoroshi gyōsha) who ran market stalls, as well as buyers representing restaurants, food processors, and large retailers.
The auctions wrapped up around 10:00 AM. Workers then transported the purchased fish either to trucks for shipping or to shops within the market via small carts.
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