Fodor's Expert Review Tsukiji Fish Market

The world's biggest and busiest fish market was moved to from Nihonbashi to Tsukiji after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, and part of it occupies the site of what was once Japan's first naval training academy. Today the market sprawls over some 54 acres of reclaimed land and employs approximately 15,000 people. Its warren of buildings houses about 1,200 vendors, supplying 90% of the seafood (and some of the vegetables, meat, and fruit) consumed in Tokyo every day—some 2,000 metric tons of it. Most of the seafood sold in Tsukiji comes in by truck, arriving through the night from fishing ports all over the country. A big attraction for tourists is the early-morning tuna auction. Limited to 120 visitors a day, people line up in front of the Fish Information Center well before it opens at 5 am.