When Tokyo’s iconic Tsukiji Market closed its inner (wholesale) operations in October 2018, travellers began asking the obvious question: is Toyosu as good? The short answer is that the two markets now serve very different purposes, and the best Tokyo fish market experience — for most visitors — involves both in the same morning. Here is the complete comparison.
What Happened to Tsukiji Market?
Tsukiji Market operated as Tokyo’s central wholesale seafood market from 1935 to 2018 — 83 years. It grew into one of the busiest wholesale markets in the world, handling millions of tonnes of fish over its lifetime, but its infrastructure was aging and its site was needed for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics development.
On 6 October 2018, all wholesale operations (the inner market: the auction floor, the wholesale stalls, the refrigeration buildings) moved to the new Toyosu Market facility. The inner market buildings at Tsukiji were subsequently demolished.
The outer market at Tsukiji — all of the retail stalls, street food vendors, restaurant alleyways, and specialty shops — did not move. They remain exactly where they were, in the streets surrounding the old inner market site, and they continue to operate today.
Toyosu Market in 2025
Toyosu is the current home of Tokyo’s wholesale fish trade and the daily tuna auction. Built on a man-made island in Koto Ward, it opened in October 2018. The facility is modern, climate-controlled, and purpose-built for the volumes that Tsukiji handled in increasingly cramped conditions.
What Toyosu has that Tsukiji never had:
- A dedicated visitor observation gallery for the tuna auction
- Temperature-controlled interior market buildings (better fish quality standards)
- Rooftop garden with Tokyo Bay views
- Modern restaurant floors with seats at counters like Sushi Dai and Bentomi
- Cleaner, more organised layout
What Toyosu lacks compared to Tsukiji’s old inner market:
- The 83 years of atmosphere, patina, and visual chaos that Tsukiji accumulated
- The feeling of being inside the market itself (Toyosu’s visitors are always on observation decks, not among the fish)
- The legendary predawn vendor breakfast culture that was a feature of Tsukiji’s inner market
Tsukiji Outer Market in 2025
The Tsukiji outer market is, in many ways, better than it has ever been. Without the wholesale pressure of the inner market driving vendor rents and schedules, the outer market stalls have settled into a more relaxed rhythm — busy, but not chaotic. The 400+ vendors selling fresh fish, pickles, knives, dashi, tamagoyaki, sushi, and dozens of other products attract a mix of local shoppers, restaurant industry buyers, and tourists.
What makes Tsukiji’s outer market still worth visiting:
- Enormous variety: fresh fish, street food, Japanese kitchen knives, ceramics, pickles, dry goods
- Real working stalls serving neighbourhood customers and restaurant industry buyers
- Prices that are not inflated for tourists
- Immediate eatable atmosphere — most vendors are happy to let you taste before you buy
- Walking distance from Toyosu (2.5km), easily combined in a guided morning tour
The outer market’s one limitation: there is no tuna auction. That experience is now exclusively at Toyosu.
Which Should You Visit — Toyosu, Tsukiji, or Both?
If you can only do one and you want the most dramatic experience: Toyosu, with a guided tuna auction tour. Nothing else in Tokyo matches the scale and intensity of the morning auction.
If you can only do one and you want the most vivid food culture immersion: Tsukiji outer market, ideally from 7–10am when the stalls are in full swing. It is more accessible, requires no advance booking, and can be combined with any Tokyo morning.
For the complete picture: both in one morning. This is what the best guided tours provide. The typical sequence is:
- Toyosu at 5am — tuna auction viewing
- Walk or taxi to Tsukiji outer market — guided food walk, tastings
- Return to Toyosu for sushi breakfast at a market counter
The morning is done by 9am, leaving the rest of Tokyo’s day intact.
Practical Comparison
| Toyosu | Tsukiji Outer Market | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is now | Wholesale seafood market + visitor facility | Retail food market street |
| Tuna auction | Yes (observation gallery) | No |
| Open days | Tue–Sun (alternating) | Daily (mostly) |
| Open from | 5am (visitor areas) | 6–7am (most stalls) |
| Booking needed | For auction (lottery or guided tour) | No |
| Transport | Yurikamome to Shijo-mae | JR/Metro to Tsukijishijo or築地 |
| Best for | Auction spectacle, sushi breakfast | Street food, food culture immersion |
| Distance apart | ~2.5km / 10-min taxi | — |
For most first-time visitors to Tokyo, a morning that starts at Toyosu and ends at Tsukiji is one of the most memorable things you can do in the city.