HAKODATE, Hokkaido --Kenji Fujita sits among his crabs, the wood fire in a tin bucket at his feet a thin defense against the predawn chill. It's minus 3 degrees at Hakodate's famed morning market, the pitch darkness of 4 a.m. adding layers to the cold.

"The next generation," Fujita murmurs glumly, "won't be doing this." His own two children work in company offices. "This finishes," he says, "with me."

Not anytime soon, though. He's 52 now, and plans to work till he's 70. Still, the frenetic pace that once characterized this market is gone.