Watch the Tuna Auction from Behind Glass
You arrive at Shijō-mae Station on the Yurikamome while it is still dark, walk the covered route into the market, and climb to the second-floor corridor. Below you, on a green floor, rows of frozen tuna are laid out and inspected before bidding begins. The tuna auctions run roughly from 5:30 to 6:30 in the morning, and the market is a working wholesale floor, so you don't stand among the buyers. Instead you watch from the viewing deck or, with advance registration, from a room at the same level separated from the auction by a window. Applications for a given month are submitted during a set period the month before, with places chosen by lottery.
If you don't get a place, the enclosed panoramic windows along the upper corridor still let you see the auction hall and the market floor. The double glazing keeps the observation area mild year-round, though it also mutes the sound of the market and can throw reflections into your photographs. The deck one floor below, behind a single pane of glass, puts you closer to the noise and temperature of the auction hall.
Three Buildings, One Working Market
Toyosu opened in October 2018 on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, replacing the historic Tsukiji market, which had outgrown its site. It is almost twice the size of Tsukiji, with each function in its own building, and the whole complex is connected by walkways to each other and to Shijō-mae Station. Visitors follow designated routes.
- The fish wholesale building holds the tuna auction hall and a second hall for other seafood auctions. The tuna floor is green, a contrast that helps buyers inspect the fish; the seafood floor is grey. Observation windows look into both halls, and there is a small restaurant area in the building.
- The intermediate wholesale building is where wholesale businesses sell seafood to licensed buyers, and its floor is off-limits to regular visitors. It has the largest of the market's three restaurant areas, where many restaurants that once stood in Tsukiji's inner market relocated, and observation windows that give limited views of the market floor.
- The fruit and vegetable building combines an auction hall with a wholesale market. A long corridor of more than a dozen windows overlooks small wholesale shops, a large observation deck looks over the produce auction hall, and displays explain which fruits and vegetables pass through the warehouse by season. Auctions here start around 6:30.
On the fourth floor of the wholesale market building you'll find Uogashi Yokocho, the merchant section that moved from Tsukiji. It is open to the public, with more than seventy shops selling non-perishable goods and processed foods in retail portions: knives, ceramic teapots, pickles, tea, sake and souvenirs. Most shops close in the early afternoon. A tourist information centre covers the market's history, layout and the seafood handled there. At the corner of the buildings near the waterfront stands Uogashi Suijinja, a shrine for a fish market on the shore.
Go Early, Climb to the Roof, Eat Before Two
Morning is the whole point. The tuna auctions run roughly 5:30–6:30, so you need to be on the first trains: from Tokyo Station, the JR Yamanote Line to Yurakucho, the Yurakucho Subway Line to Toyosu, then the Yurikamome to Shijō-mae, with the first morning connection arriving around 5:20. The Tokyo BRT bus from Shimbashi doesn't start until after 6am, and the 市01 bus from Shimbashi runs every 10–15 minutes from 5am but not on Sundays or national holidays. Two hotels stand steps from the market, Hotel JAL City Tokyo Toyosu and La Vista Tokyo Bay, which makes an early start easier.
Check the calendar before you go: the market is closed on Sundays, national holidays and some Wednesdays. Build in time for the rooftop. The Green Roof Plaza, reached by elevator, has lawns and landscaping, panoramic views over parts of Tokyo's skyline, Tokyo Bay, Tokyo Tower and the Rainbow Bridge, and Mount Fuji on clear days. Eating and drinking are not allowed on the roof.
Then eat. There are about forty restaurants across the market, each building with its own dining area, and sushi is the most popular choice because many restaurants buy their fish directly at the market. You'll also find ramen, beef rice bowls, Japanese curry, tonkatsu, some Chinese and Western dishes, and cafés serving Japanese sweets and coffee. Most restaurants close before 14:00, so plan lunch early. The market's wholesale prices for seafood, fruits and vegetables, flowers and meat are published on the Tokyo Central Wholesale Market official website, in Japanese only.
Pair It with the Bay
The Yurikamome that serves the market also runs on to Odaiba, so you can continue along the bay after your visit. Senkyaku Banrai, a shopping and dining complex with a public bath and spa offering overnight stays, opened next to the market in February 2024. The Toyosu area itself, once an industrial zone, now holds the Urban Dock Lalaport shopping complex and a gas museum, and Toyosu Guguri Park and the waterfront promenade are nearby. Further afield, Sensō-ji in Asakusa, Shinjuku Gyo-en and Tokyo Tower are all worth building into a longer Tokyo itinerary.
Set an alarm for the first train, apply for the auction lottery in the month before you travel, and check the market's closed days. Then let the green floor, the auctioneers' calls and a sushi breakfast before ten set the rhythm of your morning.