Home > Tokyo > Attractions > Must See

Tsukiji Fish Market - Tokyo Hotels .com

Shark meat at Tsukiji Fish Market

The largest wholesale market in Japan, and one of the largest in the world, opens for business at 3 a.m. when the boats begin arriving from the seas around Japan, Africa, and America. Laden with about 450 kinds of seafood, these boats carry nearly all the fish that's consumed in Tokyo. Tuna are usually unloaded first, laid on the ground, tagged, numbered, and shimmering with their deep marine beauty.

By 5:30, the tuna auctions are well underway, with the wholesalers fiercely competing for the best-looking fish. The entire auction of seafood products takes place from 4:40 to 6:30. Tourists may watch auctions, with the exception of the tuna auctions; these closed to outsiders in 2005 due to the size of the crowds. Vegetable auctions begin at 6:30 a.m.

When the auctions end, wholesalers transfer their purchases to their own stalls to sell in the market -- a huge, hangar-like building -- and to their retail customers.

URL: http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/tukiji_e.htm