When we visited Tokyo, we obviously went to see many traditional shrines and temples, walked along busy streets illuminated by countless billboards and ate a lot of food. But one of the most unique and peculiar things we visited was the Tsukiji Fish Market.
This fish market is world-famous because of the tuna auctions that used to take place in the morning, and saw hundreds of people gathering for them. While we were very curious to experience this – especially since it closed a few months later and was relocated in another part of the city – it also meant waking up very early in other to be there around 7 am. Our jet-lagged minds couldn’t bring themselves to do this, so we decided that we would just walk around the actual fish market instead.
The Tsukiji fish market was the largest fish market in the world, and while a fish market doesn’t sound so interesting – unless fish is your passion – we were still curious to see why it was so famous and why so many tourists decided to visit it each day.
As with everything in Tokyo, it did not disappoint. Of course, if you hate fish in general you won’t find it very appealing, but there are plenty of things to see and discover there. Even though we didn’t want to buy fresh fish or anything like that, there were plenty of food stands that sold fish or sea-food based dishes, like fried octopus or even delicious sashimi that you could eat on the spot.
Many of the food stands or fish shops were also nicely decorated and they all had such a huge variety of things, from fresh fish and freshly prepared dishes to dried seafood crackers. It was also possible to eat things on the go and buy some snacks to nibble on while roaming around – and the choice was not only limited to fish!
Today, the Tsukiji fish market as it was before has closed but the “outer market”, which is basically the part that we have seen, is still pretty much there. Even though it might not be one of the most beautiful places of Tokyo, I would however still recommend visiting it, mostly for the unique and unusual experience!
Have you ever heard of the Tsukiji fish market?
Other posts about Japan:
The Rikugien Gardens in Tokyo
– Exploring Shinjuku
– Short getaway in Osaka
– 10 days in Japan: Tokyo and Osaka
Sunny Days with Juliette 
I’ve heard about the market from various environmental movies documenting the amount of fish consumed in Japan; their obsession with seafood is certainly on a different level. I just hope we’ll still have fish in our oceans in a few years time. Thanks for sharing and have a good day 😀 Aiva
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They do consume a huge amount of fish! I guess it’s better than the meat industry we have here and in the US but I also hope we don’t end up using/wasting all of our resources… Thanks for dropping by 😊
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I never thought that tuna would be such a commodity, especially with the auctions at Tsukiji! Goes to show that people will pay top-price for a solid piece of fish. Thanks for taking us along for the ride!
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Absolutely! Even though I don’t regret skipping the 7am wake-up, I do wonder how the auctions really are! Thanks for reading 😊
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Great article. My favorite thing there was giant abalones which they torched-grilled before serving.
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Wow! I didn’t see them, though I think if I did I probably would have skipped them ahah! Did you try it? 😊
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Your photos are so lovely. In The Ph, there is one place that is also big on tuna. Of course, nothing compared to this market. I would also like to see it! Are there any seafood restaurants nearby or?
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Do they also have auctions there? I don’t know about seafood restaurants, but there are a lot of street food stands in the market to eat fresh fish 😊
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The dynamic around this little economy sounds fascinating. It must have so much cultural significance too for locals around there. Glad you got to enjoy your time around that place though. Thanks for sharing, Juliette! 😀
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Yes, I think so too, and for this I wish I had seen the real auctions to get a feeling of how “big” this is there! Thanks for reading Lashaan 😊
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its a cool place. but smelly!
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It does smell a bit like fish (of course), but I found that it was quite a pleasant smell, in the sens that it was fresh fish and not fish that had gone bad! 😊
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So lucky you got to experience it before it closed! Most of the traders have moved to the new facilities at Toyosu, but it just doesn’t have the same traditional vibe.
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Yes that’s what I heard! I feel super lucky, especially since at the time I didn’t know when it was going to close and it turnes out it was only a couple of months after! Thanks for dropping by 😊
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I have not heard of this market, but I will be sure to see it when I get to Japan on my bucket list.
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It is amazing! Now it has been moved to another location so I don’t know how it changed though! Hopefully they kept it as nice 😊
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I’ve only been to Tokyo once, and we were there to participate in a jiu-jitsu competition so our schedules were packed. Had I went there solely for travels, I’d have visited the market.
I also wasn’t as interested in stationery as I am now, so if I ever go back, I’ll definitely make a stationery run through all the famous shops in Tokyo.
You really know your way around your camera. What did you use to take the pics?
Anyway, thanks for this post!
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Thanks for reading! The market was really nice and I would have been very curious to see the early-morning auctions too.
I think you would love Japan for sationery! I bought so many stationery bits and pieces, I still haven’t used all of them (the trip was like 4 years ago already… 😅)
Thank you! I only use my phone for pictures to be honest!
Thanks for reading!
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