I just read that the tour at the Tsukiji Fish Market has been significantly restricted as of April and tourists cannot get close to auctions. Can someone confirm if that is true? Has anyone been there after these new rules?

My wife wants to do this tour but I am concerned that it will not be worth the money nor the effort of waking up at 3AM...

Thanks for your input.

I can highly recommend this tour.
http://homepage3.nifty.com/tokyowork...ijiTourEng.htm

We took it in early March. They do restrict where tourists can stand during the auctions. The auctions were my least favorite part-- too crowded! The early morning walks through the market were the best part.

We have just reurned from the market this morning. We did not take a tour but just jumped on teh subway and the market is right next to the station. Part of teh auction area is designated for visitors but the main attraction for us was the market itself - absolutely amazing! Had agraet sashimi breakfast in a small restaurant on the edge of the market. Definitely worth the effort (but we are going to take a nap now!!)

We did a self tour late March & got to a great work out trying to keep our toes & behinds clear off the non stop motorized carts, push carts & bicycles that the merchants move around in. Just when you think you've planted your feet & yourself in a safe spot, there's another cart/bike trying to get you out of its way. It was exciting at first but soon got quite tiring. I definitely felt like we were in the way of business & they had no problem letting you know that too. Got to help a number of lost, frustrated & tired looking foreigners who were only too happy to see an English speaking Asian.

Meandered around the shops, found Daiwa the famous sushi shop which was trying to cater to its many customers. Finally decided to eat in a domburi shop where I had a Taraba gani (King crab) uni don. That was a great breakfast !!! No photos allowed in the tiny shop.

Noted that Liz' guide's tour is now in transition with the added restrictions on the venues accessible to visitors. I have no regrets doing it on our own. Definitely, a once in a lifetiime fun thing to do.

Bookmarking

We did the tour noted by Liz on April 22 (was that really yesterday??). It was excellent and I highly recommend it. I am a fairly independent traveller but I would not want to do the Tsukiji excursion without someone who could explain things. We actually were able to see many of the things that are now considered "restricted." It was wonderful and defintely worth the effort.