Toyosu Market
Toyosu Market is the largest and most important of the 11 facilities that constitute the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market. When the legendary Tsukiji Market grew antiquated and overcrowded, it relocated to Toyosu in October 2018. Consisting of four buildings that respectively house management offices, the Fish Wholesale Market, the Fish Intermediate Wholesale Market, and a fruit and vegetable market, the complex occupies 40.7 hectares, about 1.7 times the area of the Tsukiji site.
If you go, be sure to wear comfortable shoes, and get there in time for the tuna auction, an experience that’s not to be missed. At the first auction of 2019, a bluefin tuna made headlines when it sold for a record ¥333.6 million (about $3 million). The observation deck offers close-up views of the spectacle, with ringing bells and the cries of the auctioneers adding to the excitement. A place on the deck must be reserved in advance.
Though not quite as dramatic as the deck view, you can also watch the action without a reservation from the observation gallery on the second floor, above the deck. After the auction you’ll want to explore the Uogashi Yokocho shopping area located in the Fish Intermediate Wholesale Market building. Some 70 shops sell tools and foodstuffs mainly intended for market workers and professional chefs. Located atop the same building is the Green Roof Plaza Garden with its pleasant expanse of lawn and stunning vistas of bayside Tokyo that include the Harumi Canal, Rainbow Bridge and the Athletes’ Village, now under construction at a feverish pace for the 2020 Summer Olympics. The restaurants, offering sushi and other delicacies, are likely to be packed — in order to avoid a long wait, visit on a weekday.
Toyosu Market (Fish Wholesale Market): Toyosu 6-6-2, Koto-ku 135-0061; visitors can tour designated facilities from 5 a.m.-5 p.m.; restaurants and shops start closing around noon; closed Sun., holidays and designated days; www.shijou.metro.tokyo.jp/toyosu. The tuna auction can be observed from 5:45-6:15 a.m. Visitors must enter a lottery ahead of time to secure a spot on the observation deck — visit pia.jp/piajp/v/toyosushijou19 for more information.
Uogashi Yokocho: Toyosu Market, Fish Intermediate Wholesale Market 4F, Toyosu 6-5-1, Koto-ku 135-0061; open early morning to noon, hours vary by shop
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