World’s largest fish market in Japan to relocate

The potent combination of fish and bleach hit me as I walked into the inner section of the Tsukiji Market in Tokyo just after 11 am. The market’s famed tuna auction had long since ended, and the chefs had gone home with the day’s best catches. Shopkeepers were checking inventory as forklifts whizzed passed streams of tourists hoping to get a final look.

For more than 80 years, 900 licensed wholesalers at Tsukiji’s inner market have sold 3,100 tons of fruits, vegetables and, most famously, fish per day to Tokyo’s citizens. On Sep 15, the last group of tourists lined up in the wee hours of the morning to secure one of 120 coveted spots to witness the final tuna sold at auction; Sep 29 was the last day for visitors before the facility closed to make room for the 2020 Olympics.

The outer market — a maze of 600 vendors pedalling dried food, tea, souvenirs and more — is owned privately, not by the Tokyo Metro Government, and will remain in its current space for tourists to explore. Guided tours of the outer market with popular companies like Urban Adventures and Arigato Japan Food Tours will start up again at the end of October.

But the bulk of the action will move to Toyosu Market, about 1.4 miles from Tsukiji; it is scheduled to open on Thursday, with tuna auctions starting the same day. (Tourists will not be allowed to enter the market until an as-yet-undetermined date this month.) Unlike at Tsujiki Market, visitors will not be permitted to enter the wholesale or intermediate wholesale spaces.

The move also means tourists who want to watch the world’s most prized fish change hands will no longer require a 2 am wake-up call. At the new Toyosu Market, visitors will filter into a designated standing room area that sits above the auction floor and watch from behind glass. “The tuna auction will still start at 4:30 am and last for about an hour,” said Lauren Shannon, the general manager of Arigato Japan Food Tours. “Visitors will no longer need to sign up beforehand anymore; just be there on time to score a good view.”

Approximately 530 fishery wholesalers will be moving in the coming weeks. For many, though, the move is still a mystery.

“I am anxious about going to Toyosu,” said Oyama Akihiro, a fish vendor. “So many things are still undecided. The Tokyo government is less interested in the details of how to move the market and more concerned with the Olympic Games.”

Tuna fish are landed from boats at the Tsukiji market in Tokyo, Japan, in this handout photo taken Dec 8, 1988 and released by Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office. REUTERS

Indeed, many vendors and chefs are predicting various problems during the transition. “The flow of the market will not work because a 15-minute walk separates the fish market and the vegetable market, and the price of the fish will increase for sure because buyers need to pay more for new systems and their stalls,” said Naoyuki Yanagihara, a chef and vice president of Kinsaryu Yanagihara School of Traditional Japanese Cuisine. “There is also only one road to Toyosu from the Ginza area so there will be a big traffic jam every day.”

Akihro agreed that logistics will be an issue. “There are only two gates in the new market to move product in and out,” he said. “There are 12 here at Tsukiji, so that is another big worry.”

Shinohara Masao, a second-generation fish stall owner echoed this sentiment: “I do not want to go to the new market because it is inconvenient to get to and my customers won’t come. Making enough money to live is a major concern.”

The transition has also pushed out small-business owners who have been in the market for years. “The people who don’t have the money to move, mostly small vendors, are not happy they have to close,” said Yoshi Kurashina, a tour guide with Urban Adventures.

As for what the empty Tsukiji market space will become, that, too, is a mystery. There have been talks about whether it will be turned into a bus terminal for the Olympics and later be converted into a sporting arena with retail shops. There are also rumours that the market could be moved back to Tsukiji in 2025 with the addition of a food theme park. A spokesman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market said that decision has not been made.

© 2018 New York Times News Service