Around 5 a.m., the opening bell signaled the start of the auction at Tokyo's Tsukiji Central Fish Market. Lining the floor were hundreds of tunas, tagged with their point of origin — Guam, Australia and Katsuura, Chiba Prefecture. As the sellers called out each fish's number, buyers raised their hands to offer a price.
German tourist Antje Vries, 28, was eagerly photographing the scene. "Everyone in the world knows (about Tsukiji)," she said.
Regarded as the world's largest fish market, Tsukiji's tuna auction attracted as many as 600 foreign tourists a day before a monthlong ban was imposed in early April to reduce the influx of tourists in spring. The auctions will open to the public again on Monday.