heislik

My husband and I are planning a trip to Japan at the end of March and would love to see the tuna auction at the Tsukiji Fish Market. We understand the number of tourists allowed to view the auction is now limited to 140 per day.

Can anyone recommend a tour guide or company that will provide a tour of the market and insure we can be one of those 140 lucky people?! We have read from others' trip reports it can be difficult to navigate Tokyo and do not want to miss this neat opportunity because we got lost/were late!!

Thank you in advance for your help!

Viviana7

I was there in December and the fish auction and market was closed to tourists. We went into the market anyway, but got kicked out soon after! The market is pretty easy to get to. You may need a reservation for the auction.

Mara

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3021.html
Have you seen this info from japan-guide re: Tsukiji....

crellston

Shame that the wholesale market is now closed to visitors 9as per the previous post). We visited in 2008 and just missed the auction but wandered around the market for an hour or so and it was a great experience. The sheer volume and variety of the fish there was mindblowing although it does not bode well for the planet's fish stocks! Can't help with tour guides I am a fraid, but even if you cannot get tickets to the auction I would say it is worth a visit just to have a look around after 9.00am. Doubtless it wont be as busy but there should still be plenty to see. The sashimi breakfasts at one of the foodstall around the market is worth the visit alone. A few photos of the market on our blog:

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...2880/tpod.html

dukkar

Mara:

I read your link and was surprised to read "Do not bring small children or pets!" in the "A few more general rules for visiting Tsukiji Market" section.

Is it true that I cannot take my 5-yr old son to see the fish market? Can people who have been to the market tell me if they've seen kids in the market?

Thanks,
D

crellston

I didn't see any kids in the market and would be very wary of taking a 5 year old to the market. The main problem is with the fork lift trucks that zoom around the market, sometimes at speed and often with little regard to any visitors wandering around. We had to dodge out of teh way as a large frozen tuna slipped off of the forklift and slid towards us as it turn a corner. We were there very early so it may be a little less hectic later on

Alec

Small children are discouraged from entering the markets (the indoor wholesale section), as it can be dangerous. The Japanese section of market rules state no strollers, so your 5-year old may be ok, provided you hold his hand tight and don't allow him to wander on his own, but it's possible for an official to ask you to leave.
Japanese themselves don't take young children to what is a work place for professionals - and most visitors to the fish auction are non-Japanese.

DonTopaz

Anyone who's interested in the goings-on at Tsukiji might wish to rent the movie "Map of the Sounds of Tokyo." It's a recent movie, about a woman who works in Tsukiji (and also has another part-time job), and it's filled with great scenes in the market and throughout Tokyo. It's a good movie, but especially interesting for Tokyophiles.

at12am

I didn't go to the auction because it was off limit during our visit.

We got to the sushi place before 6am and we had to wait 45 mins in the cold to get in. The line was that long.

Also, the original Beef-rice shop was there too. Yoshinoya. A bit of nostalgia.

DonTopaz

Not sure what previous poster means by "the sushi place." There are a whole bunch of sushi places in Tsukiji, and only two of them (Sushi-Dai, and the other one) are likely to have lines.

heislik

Thank you for your comments. Based on my research, it appears no tour guides/company can really guarantee getting us into the tuna auction because of the new limits -- I guess we will just get up very early and hope we are one of the lucky few.

Regarding kids, a few webpages recommended not taking kids into the inner market. The other areas seemed fine for kids.

Thanks again to all.