http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content...&id=336717
They've banned tourists from the tuna auction and I was looking forward to seeing it on my first jet-lagged morning pilgrimage.

Apparently too many tourist go there and give the fishmongers a hard time for chopping up big tuna. Not many people have seen bluefin tuna(most prized for toro etc) in the flesh and these fish can weigh more than 1,500 pounds.

When I was there two or three sections of the market were full of bluefins, many adolescent fish that did not have time to breed. There were several other section with yellowfins and other tunnus.

My biggest schock was that I saw over a dozen marlins at the market. To a gamefishermen that's a no no! Didn't see any whales but there were whale meat for sale.

This has been discussed alot recently on www.japan-guide.com travel forum. People there say you can still see the rest of the market and selling, just not the tuna auction.
Personally, we didn't go to Tsukiji because we were fortunately NOT jet lagged and wanted to sleep til 8 am each morning, but also because I had read alot of Japanese commentary in the last year about how the tourists get in the way and are a safety hazard w/all the forklift all over, etc. I am pretty sensitive to not interfering w/normal life and commerce while I am visitng a country, and this persuaded me not to make the effort to go. But maybe we will try the other areas of the market next spring.

hmmmn shucks I was planning to go next Saturday.

I'll probably still try to get there to have a looksee and some fresh sushi.

skyhopper,

suggest trying the hump. weird name I know. The lunch sushi set at JPY1,200 is pretty good. Very difficult. Dinner is expensive though. Nice classy place; overlooks the moat of the Imperial Palace across the road.

http://www.typhoon-restaurant.com/japanhump.html

should read very different

We were told to wear shoes that could be disposed of so we gave it a miss!