Toyosu First Tuna Auction (Hatsuseri): Records, the 2027 Date & How to Watch

Yes, you can watch Toyosu’s New Year tuna auction, for free and with no reservation, but only from the glass-walled second-floor visitor corridor. The close-up lottery deck was not offered on the first-auction day in January 2026, and no tour can sell you a place on it. The 2026 auction on 5 January set an all-time record of ¥510.3 million for a 243 kg Oma bluefin bought by Sushi Zanmai’s Kiyoshi Kimura. The next one falls on Tuesday 5 January 2027, the first seafood trading day on the official 2027 calendar.

The short answer:

• What happened in 2026: a 243 kg bluefin from Oma (Aomori) sold for ¥510.3 million, or ¥2.1 million a kilo, to Kiyomura Corp. (Sushi Zanmai). It beat Kimura’s own 2019 record of ¥333.6 million, and the fish was served at Sushi Zanmai’s normal menu prices.
• How to watch: anyone can watch free from the second-floor visitor corridor of the Fisheries Wholesale Market Building (Block 7), which opens at 5:00 a.m. on market days. The 100-person-a-day lottery deck skipped the first-auction day in January 2026, and the official rules ban reselling deck access.
• The next one: past first auctions fell on 5 January from 2019 to 2026, and the official 2027 seafood calendar closes 1 to 4 January and opens on Tuesday 5 January, so that is the date. Bidding starts around 5:00 a.m., and the first Yurikamome train from Shimbashi only reaches Shijo-mae at 6:13, so stay nearby or take a taxi.

If you want a guide to explain the hand signals, a small-group tuna auction and Tsukiji tour uses the same free corridor and adds commentary and breakfast. Check whether your date is bookable below, because many operators do not run on 5 January.

What the hatsuseri is and why the prices are absurd

Hatsuseri (初競り) is the first auction of the year, held at Toyosu on the first trading day after the New Year closure. The top-priced bluefin of the morning is called the ichiban maguro, the number-one tuna.

• Tsukiji to Toyosu: Toyosu took over from Tsukiji as Tokyo’s central fish market in October 2018. Its first New Year auction, on 5 January 2019, produced the then-record ¥333.6 million tuna, which Nippon.com attributes to an extraordinary celebratory price at the market’s first New Year on the new site.
• Celebration pricing: on the first trading day, buyers routinely pay above market price for good luck. Many seafood items trade higher than usual that morning as wishes for prosperous business.
• Publicity: for the winning chain the price works partly as advertising. Up to 2010 a winning bid above ¥10 million was unusual. The ¥100 million mark was first passed in 2013 (¥155.4 million), and the auction has been a New Year news fixture ever since.
• Economic barometer: prices crashed during COVID (¥20.84 million in 2021 and ¥16.88 million in 2022) and recovered with inbound tourism. Nikkei linked the return above ¥100 million in 2024 to visitors driving a restaurant recovery.
• The gap to everything else: in 2026 the second-priciest tuna, also from Oma, sold for ¥7.83 million (174 kg at ¥45,000 a kilo), about 1/65 of the winner. The record reflects bidding for prestige, not what tuna normally costs. Our guide to record prices covers what bluefin costs on a normal day.

If you are in the bay area for the auction, the rest of the morning is easy to fill. Nearby you have Senkyaku Banrai and its Manyo Club onsen, teamLab Planets, the Tsukiji Outer Market, Odaiba and the Rainbow Bridge. Guided Tokyo food tours and other experiences are below:

Record prices and buyers, 2019 to 2026

All of the top tuna came from Oma, Aomori.

Figures in dollars depend on the exchange rate of the day: 2026 is roughly $3.2 million and 2019 roughly $3.1 million at the time.

• Onodera’s run: CNN and Kyodo reported 2025 as the fifth year in a row that Onodera Group paid the top price, while Nikkei frames the same run as Yamayuki winning five years running. They describe the same joint purchases.
• 2026 details: the fish was landed by Toyoichi Ito of the Dai-11 Choho-maru, and the Oma Tourism Association says it was Oma’s 15th consecutive year producing the top tuna. The heaviest fish does not always win: a 326 kg Oma bluefin was tipped by locals as the likely number-one tuna before the 2026 auction.
• Kimura’s reaction: he told reporters he had expected a price around ¥300 or ¥400 million, “but it turned out to be over 500 million.” In Japanese he described the price rising like a roller coaster.
• Weights: Nippon.com’s English data piece says 234 kg, which looks like a transposition. Every other source says 243 kg.

The date and schedule for January 2027

How the date is set. Market closed days are fixed by the Governor of Tokyo after consulting market traders, and are published in the official annual calendar. The standard seafood rule closes the market from 1 to 4 January. Otherwise it is closed on Sundays and holidays, plus Wednesdays in weeks without a holiday.

Precedent. The first auction fell on 5 January every year from 2019 to 2026. In 2025, 5 January was a Sunday and the market opened specially for it. In 2026 the market was closed 31 December to 4 January and reopened on Monday 5 January; 30 December was seafood only.

2027. The official 2027 calendar was published on 11 September 2026, with 250 seafood open days and 115 closed days. It marks 6 January 2027 as closed for produce only, which means seafood trades that day. Tuesday 5 January 2027 is the first seafood trading day, so the first auction falls that morning; we read it from the official 2027 seafood CSV, which lists 1 to 4 January as closed. The exact start time is announced nearer the day. Our New Year closing dates guide lists every trading day around the break.

Start time. On first-auction day bidding begins around 5:00 a.m. after a ceremonial hand-clap (tejime) and a bell. The Toyosu Market Association said fresh tuna would go on sale just after 5:00 a.m. on 5 January 2026, with the produce section’s ceremonial treasure ship (takarabune) at about 6:20 a.m. Normal daily tuna auctions start at 5:30 a.m. and run until about 6:30.

Opening hours. The visitor corridors, including restaurants and shops, are open from 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The PR Corner is open 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (until 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays), and the rooftop garden is open 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. When the market is closed, the corridors and PR Corner are closed too, and only the rooftop stays open.

How to watch on New Year’s auction day

• The corridor: the Toyosu Market Association says live sound from the auction floor is piped into the corridor, so you hear the opening bell, and panels explain the traders’ hand signals. Fresh tuna are sold before frozen ones, and close to 1,000 tuna can be laid out on the floor.
• The deck and New Year: the official January 2026 guidelines listed bookable dates beginning Tuesday 6 January, so 5 January was not offered. The January 2027 round has not been published yet. Expect the same exclusion, and check the December 2026 guideline PDF. A third-party guide also reports that lottery applications are not accepted from 25 December to 5 January, which matches the official FAQ.
• Crowds and press: Japanese guides say first-auction day draws crowds of people coming to watch and to eat. Large media teams cover it, and the winning fish is shown to reporters afterwards at the buyer’s restaurant (Sushi Zanmai’s main branch in Tsukiji in 2019 and 2026).
• What it is realistically like: you watch from behind glass and above the floor, and getting there for 5:00 a.m. is the hard part. Because the top fish sells in about a minute, it is easy to miss which lot is the record one, and the news coverage tells you hours later.
• Remote viewing: NHK, TBS, Jiji and Kyodo, along with AP, Reuters and AFP, release footage and photos the same morning. We could not confirm an official livestream.

Regular daily auction viewing and the lottery deck

Official 2026 observation deck lottery rules (from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government guideline PDF and the lottery site):

• Viewing runs 5:45 to 6:25 a.m., and you assemble at 5:30 a.m. at the PR Corner, 3F of the Block 7 Administration Building.
• 100 people a day, in groups of up to 5. Everyone counts toward the total, including babies, and the lead applicant must be junior-high age or older.
• Applications are online only, with one entry per group and up to 3 preferred dates. You get at most one date, and entry and viewing are free.
• The round for each month opens early the previous month and lasts about a week. For January 2026 the window was 3 to 9 December 2025, with results on 18 December. For November 2026 it was 7 to 13 October 2026.
• Everyone in the group must show photo ID (a health insurance card for young children without one), along with the winning email.
• Transfer, resale, or selling places to tour companions for profit is strictly prohibited. There are no date changes, no drunk visitors, and no flash photography.
• If you lose the lottery, you can still watch from the second-floor visitor corridor.

What has changed. The deck started in 2019 with 27 places, later ran two shifts of up to 60 (about 120 a day, still listed on some sites), and the current official limit is 100 a day. If you see 120 quoted, it is out of date. Our lottery and timings guide walks through the application step by step.

Logistics for 5 January

• Building layout: Block 7 is the Fisheries Wholesale Market Building (the tuna auction) plus the Administration Building (PR Corner, restaurants on 3F). Block 6 is the Intermediate Wholesale Market Building (restaurants on 3F, the Uogashi Yokocho shops on 4F). Block 5 is the produce building, whose auction starts about 6:30 a.m. and can be seen from its own deck. All three connect to Shijo-mae Station by elevated walkways. Lonely Planet puts produce in Block 6, but the official and Market Association sources say Block 5.
• Trains (check exact times for your date): the first Yurikamome train from Shimbashi leaves at 5:45 and reaches Shijo-mae at 6:13, too late for a 5:00 a.m. first auction. The first train from Toyosu leaves at 5:15 and arrives at 5:17. Shijo-mae is about 27 minutes from Shimbashi and 3 minutes from Toyosu.
• Best plan: stay in Toyosu or Ariake and walk or take a short taxi, or take a taxi from Ginza or Tsukiji. Bus and BRT services also serve the market, and there is no visitor parking. Our guide to getting there before dawn has every route, and the hotels near Toyosu guide lists places within walking distance.
• What to wear: January mornings are cold, and you will stand still for 30 to 60 minutes. The deck is open to the auction hall’s chilled air at the top, so bring warm layers.
• Rules: no eating or drinking in the corridors, follow staff instructions, no flash, and no access to the trading floor.
• Accessibility: we found no verified details. The market office answers questions on 03-3520-8205.
• Food afterwards: sit-down restaurants are on 3F of Block 7 (about six sushi counters) and 3F of Block 6, and include counters that moved from Tsukiji, such as Sushi Dai and Daiwa Sushi. Expect queues, especially on first-auction day. To taste the record fish, go to Sushi Zanmai: in 2026 it was cut at the Tsukiji main branch, distributed to branches nationwide and sold at the usual ¥398 to ¥598 a serving. Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai, the food-hall and onsen complex next to the market, opened on 1 February 2024 and follows the market’s closed days for its shops. See our Senkyaku Banrai guide and our Sushi Dai and Daiwa guide.

Guided tours

Tours sell commentary, logistics and a sushi breakfast, not better access. The official rules ban reselling lottery places, so tours use the same free corridor, and you should check whether a tour runs on 5 January at all.

• The Toyosu Tuna Auction & Tsukiji Market Gourmet Adventure is a 3.5-hour small-group tour, from $114, rated 4.9/5 from more than 400 reviews.
• The Toyosu Tuna Auction + Breakfast at Sushi Dai or Bentomi is from $113, with the meal as the draw.
• The Toyosu & Tsukiji Market Food Tour with Tuna Auction is from $120, rated 4.95/5 but with only 30 reviews so far.
• The Private Toyosu & Tsukiji Market Adventure with Tuna Auction is a private tour from $165.
• The Tuna Auction at Toyosu and Tsukiji Fish Market Tour is a private tour with hotel pickup, from $511, and has only a handful of reviews, so read them first. A taxi pickup solves the first-train problem.

One independent operator’s tour claims access to an area usually closed to the public, which we could not verify, so ask what is included before you book. Our tour comparison and price guide cover the alternatives.

Etiquette

Do not use flash on the deck. Do not knock on the glass or block the windows for long on busy days. Follow staff, stay on the visitor routes, and remember this is a working market where turret trucks and forklifts have right of way. Do not eat in the corridors.

Common misconceptions

• “You can stand on the floor like at Tsukiji.” You cannot. Floor entry is limited to licensed buyers.
• “Tsukiji closed.” Only the wholesale market moved. Tsukiji Outer Market still operates and follows a similar closed-day calendar. See Toyosu vs Tsukiji.
• “The deck costs money.” It does not. The deck and the corridor are both free.
• “The New Year tuna is reserved for VIPs.” It is not. Sushi Zanmai served the 2026 fish at normal prices.
• “Is it worth it?” For the first auction, yes if you are already staying near Toyosu and like ceremony and crowds. For a closer look, use the lottery on a normal weekday later in January.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can tourists attend the first tuna auction?

Yes. You watch from the free second-floor visitor corridor in Block 7, which opens at 5:00 a.m.

Is it free?

Yes. Both the corridor and the lottery deck are free.

Do you need a reservation?

Not for the corridor. The deck needs a monthly lottery and was not offered on first-auction day in 2026.

What time should I arrive?

By about 4:45 to 5:00 a.m. Bidding starts around 5:00 on first-auction day.

When is the 2027 first auction?

Tuesday 5 January 2027, the first seafood trading day on the official 2027 calendar.

Can I eat the record tuna?

Yes, at Sushi Zanmai branches for a short time after the auction, at normal prices. That has been the pattern in 2019 and 2026, but it is not guaranteed.

Can a tour get me onto the deck?

No. Reselling deck access is prohibited, so tours use the same free corridor.

Bottom line

Go to the first auction for the ceremony and the headlines, not for the view: you will stand behind glass in the cold with a crowd, and the record fish sells in about a minute. Plan on Tuesday 5 January 2027, confirm it on the official seafood calendar, stay in Toyosu or Ariake or take a taxi, and be in the corridor by 5:00 a.m. If a close look matters more than the occasion, enter the lottery for an ordinary weekday later in January and eat the winter tuna afterwards. Figures were last checked in October 2026, and tour prices and lottery dates change.