Tsukiji Fish Market
 

Was planning to visit in December of this year but it seems that they close the auctions to tourists in December...is this consistent for every year or was it just last year because the market was supposed to move?

Is there some kind of announcement or press release about the dates the auction is closed to the public?

Is it still worth going if the auctions are closed to the public?

Yes, New Year is busiest holiday in Japan and December is usually become busiest time for the fish market. Due to busy activity of December it is pretty much annual event that tour of tuna auction will be suspended part of December. This has nothing to do with the postponement of the move of the fish market to new Toyosu location.

Every year dates where tuna auction will not take place in December are announced during November.

For me the auction is the most overrated part of the whole place, particularly because you need to turn up at like ~3.30am nowadays. That little corridor they then guide you to is cramped and the experience isn't any different from just viewing the thousands of videos on youtube.

Sushi Dai is also a bit crazy talk nowadays. It used to be OK back when the queues were under an hour. I think now it's more like 3 or 4 hours which is absolute madness for sushi that isn't even really that good.

Having said that, if it's something that really interests you, then by all means go ahead :) Tsukiji is a must-visit for me every time I go to Tokyo because I love walking around the inner market at 9am after a Tempura rice bowl breakfast.

The outer market is worth wandering around. Lots of great little restaurants along the main road as well—I had a phenomenal tuna cheek on rice dish a few weeks ago.

The inner market is also interesting. Note that admission there has now been pushed to 10am.

The auction and famous sushi restaurants are a complete waste of time.

Plus, if you don't care about either of those, you can just meander over around 9 rather than getting up at some ungodly hour. :)

And if you want to see a tuna auction, there are other alternatives. Just look around.

Rather sleep a or travel somewhere else instead of waiting inline to watch people auctioning.... fish... can we watch auction for vege or cow in NZ instead... no one fly to watch auctions over there....

Frankly, it was never worth going.

10AM is awfully late. I always go in at 9AM and by 10AM many vendors have finished for the day and closed up. Is that a seasonal thing or a permanent change? I can understand if just too many people are showing up now and getting in the way of trade, hopefully it goes back to 9AM.

I was there in May and the number of clueless tourists really irked me - using flash as the fishmongers worked with uber sharp knives, or getting overly up close and in the way of their line of sight. I told off 2 people for being idiots and they sheepishly walked away. There are actually quite a few friendly vendors (one lifted up a cover in his display fridge to show off a huge opah or moonfish and invited me to take photos), I would hate to lose that kind of friendly engagement.

everyone is a foodie these days...[BTW, that term makes me gag and should have died with the death of egullet]. the sad thing is that even in 2007 when the auctions were wide open and no issues with when you can go, people failed to follow a simple rule...no flashes. total jerk wads.

Japan Guide makes no mention of the change to 10am being seasonal, so I suspect it's here to stay:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3021.html

For probably 95% of visitors, this is their first wet market ever (at least for western visitors). When I took some friends there a few weeks ago I simply could not believe the number of morons bringing roller bags into the market. Dozens and dozens of roller suitcases being dragged through the market. Huge tour groups, people in open-toed shoes who clearly don't understand what happens at a wet market, hundreds in the line for any restaurant, not just the Big Two sushi places.

There was one poor police officer trying to prevent suitcases from entering but he couldn't keep up with the onslaught.

I try not to complain about sights getting too crowded, but I suppose my specific complaint is more about idiocy than anything else.

I wouldn't be surprised if visitors are simply banned from the entire inner market at some point, especially with the move to the new market likely suspended indefinitely. This venue can't handle the increased number of visitors.

The website still says 9AM, am I missing something? [Edited to add: Ok the map graphic shows 10AM, but the text at the bottom still says 9AM.]

Tsukiji's home page also still says 9AM, no announcement that I can find that refers to the later entry time of 10AM. Not that I can read japanese much so I am relying on Google translate...

Here's the announcement

Thanks!

I hope the crowds taper off - I love wandering the jonai.

people are just so obsessed with taking photos these days so had they just wanted to walk around and take a look and....scoff....perhaps buy something....they could be so less intrusive but worrying about taking a photo and flashing away etc. is sooooo disruptive and causes people to completely ignore what is going on around them.

good riddance i say and blame your fellow tourists for the same.

i am honestly surprised they even allow the tuna auctions at all.

i wonder if they thought making it so hard would discourage people completely....

anyone see the new documentary yet?

i was in hong kong when it was released, however, i was having dinner with a relative that night in Sept so did not have time to see it.

don't know if it has been distributed more broadly yet.

Tsukiji is on fire right now!