More than 10 percent of traders working at Tokyo's famed Tsukiji fish market plan to give up their business because they can't move to its new site, partly due to moving costs.
With the facilities in Chuo Ward aging, the market is slated to be moved in fiscal 2015 to the Toyosu district in Koto Ward.
Wholesales Cooperative of Tokyo Fish Market, which represents 664 middlemen at Tsukiji, held a news conference Monday to explain the results of a survey conducted in March.
Of 647 traders who responded to the survey, 540 said they plan to move to the new market, but the remaining 107 are considering discontinuing their business because they can't pay for the moving costs or they don't have successors.
The cooperative is planning to match up those traders and those who want to expand their business.
"Many traders are giving up their business, as we had expected. We want to start matching them at the start of the new year at earliest," said Junichi Ito, who represents the cooperative.