The Ultimate Guide to Toyosu Market (formerly Tsukiji Market) – Famous Tuna Auction, Fresh Seafood, Worth a Visit!

This is our ultimate guide to the new Toyosu Fish Market! We visited this huge indoor market in Tokyo recently. In this article I will be showing you everything you need to know about the market. This article was last updated on 09 December 2019.

Table of Contents

1. Toyosu Fish Market
2. Map of Toyosu Fish Market
3. Block 5 (Fruit and Vegetable Market)
4. Block 5 – Viewing Deck
5. Block 5 – Restaurants
6. Block 6 (Fish Intermediate Wholesale Market)
7. Block 6 – Viewing Deck
8. Block 6 – Restaurants
9. Block 6 – Uogashi Yokocho
10. Block 6 – Rooftop Garden
11. Block 7 (Fish Wholesale Market)
12. Block 7 – Gallery
13. Block 7 – Viewing Deck (Upper Floor)
14. Block 7 – Viewing Deck (Lower Floor)
15. Block 7 – Restaurants
16. Toyosu Fish Market Walking Guide
17. Getting to Toyosu Fish Market
18. Conclusion

Toyosu Fish Market

Toyosu Fish Market (豊洲市場) is a wholesale food market located in Toyosu, Tokyo. It is the largest wholesale market of any kind in the world, and consists of three buildings:

• Block 5 (Fruit and Vegetable Market)
• Block 6 (Fish Intermediate Wholesale Market)
• Block 7 (Fish Wholesale Market)

The market was originally located in Tsukiji, where it was known as the “inner” Tsukiji Fish Market. It relocated to Toyosu in October 2018 and reopened as “Toyosu Market”.

The “outer” Tsukiji Fish Market remains at its original location. This vibrant outdoor market is still the place to buy local produce, enjoy awesome street food, and revel in the bustling vibe!

Other than selling wholesale seafood and vegetables, Toyosu Market is also home to plenty of awesome restaurants.

Map of Toyosu Fish Market

As you can tell from the simple map above, all three blocks are connected directly to the Shijo-mae Station by elevated walkways. From the station, there are clear signboards along the walkways that will lead you to the respective blocks.

All tourists can enter the three buildings via the elevated walkways. You just need to pick up a visitor’s pass near the entrance when you enter the building.

Block 5 (Fruit and Vegetable Market)

Block 5 comprises the auction area and wholesale market for fruits and vegetables. There is a viewing deck and three restaurants as well.

Block 5 – Viewing Deck

viewing deck for auction area

The viewing deck allows visitors to see the auction area and wholesale market through glass panels from the second floor. The public is prohibited from entering the market on the first floor.

We saw the viewing deck once we entered the building from the elevated walkway. It is divided into different coloured zones, with a specific type of food sold at each zone, such as Japanese horseradish, strawberries, pea, etc.

We managed to see many crates of produce and some people walking around.

If you walk further in, you will reach another large observation deck looking down into the fruits and vegetables auction area.

Block 5 – Restaurants

Daiwa Sushi

As you can see above, there are only three restaurants at Block 5, all located on the first floor: Tenfusa, known for its delicious Tempura, Fujimiya, a soba shop, and Daiwa Sushi, a popular sushi restaurant.

Daiwa Sushi
This famous sushi restaurant is known for its fresh and delicious sushi. The restaurant offers Omakase too. It is second in popularity only to Sushi Dai at Block 7.

The restaurant was originally located at the “inner” Tsukiji Fish Market, but it moved here with Toyosu Market.

There are only about 20 seats in the restaurant, so make sure you go early if you don’t want to queue for too long. When we went on a regular weekday at 10.30am, we saw a long queue of about 30 people waiting outside, consisting of both locals and tourists.

Based on what we read online, most people recommend reaching around 5am so that you can make it for the first seating when the shop opens. Daiwa Sushi opens daily from 5.30am to 1.30pm, and is closed on Sundays.

Block 6 (Fish Intermediate Wholesale Market)

Block 6 consists of the intermediate seafood market where small wholesale shops sell the seafood bought from the auctions at Block 7. There is also a viewing deck, many restaurants, Uogashi Yokocho (a bustling indoor market), and a rooftop garden.

Block 6 – Viewing Deck

Similar to Block 5, the viewing deck on the second floor allows visitors to observe the seafood wholesale market below. However, the viewing angle was very narrow and we couldn’t really see much of what was going on. The public is not allowed to enter the market on the first floor.

However, I did have some fun posing with the transport vehicle on display. This is a typical vehicle used to transport goods in the market.

Block 6 – Restaurants

The queue at Sushi Dai is crazy!

Iso Sushi

Orijinal ISO Sushi set (3000 Yen)

As you can see from the map above, there are plenty of restaurants on the third floor in Block 6!

Sushi Dai
The most well-known is of course Sushi Dai, a super popular sushi shop. The restaurant offers Omakase too.

Like Daiwa Sushi, Sushi Dai used to be located at the “inner” Tsukiji Fish Market, but it moved here with the new market. At the old market, the two sushiya used to be located side by side.

This small sushiya can only seat about 10 people, therefore customers can queue for up to 4 hours! When we went on a weekday at about 8am, there were already 30 people queuing outside the restaurant.

If you want to make it for the first or second seating when the shop opens, the common advice is to start queueing from around 3am. Sushi Dai opens daily from 5am to 2pm, and is closed on Sundays.

Iso Sushi
We didn’t queue for Sushi Dai because it would disrupt our plans for the rest of the day. Instead, we went to Iso Sushi, another sushiya that is quite popular but without the crazy queues.

This cozy sushi restaurant can seat around 15 people. When we went at 8am, there were only 4 customers inside.

We ordered the Orijinal ISO Sushi set (3000 Yen) which consisted of 11 pieces of sushi. We were allowed to share the sushi set.

It was definitely an interesting experience to see a seasoned sushi chef preparing the sushi with his deft hands right in front of us!

We are not sushi experts, but the sushi we ate were definitely one of the freshest we’ve ever had.

Other Popular Restaurants
Other well-known restaurants in Block 6 are Sho Sushi, Iwasa Sushi and Sushi Sei. All three sushi restaurants have good reviews on Tabelog, a Japanese restaurant review website.

Founded in 1935, Odayasu is a fried food restaurant known for its tonkatsu. Another recommended item is the chashu (roasted pork) and egg set meal.

We also saw Yoshinoya. However, this is not a normal branch of the Japanese fast food chain. Originally located at Tsukiji Market, this was the franchise’s very first branch! Finally, Oedo is a small restaurant known for its delicious Chirashi and Kaisen Don.

Block 6 – Uogashi Yokocho

local produce

dried goods

souvenirs

Tamago!

Hello Kitty Seaweed – we bought quite a few cans!

many knives on sales

Uogashi Yokocho is a bustling indoor market on the fourth floor of Block 6. We saw a variety of local produce, poultry, street food, dried goods, household products, snacks, tourist souvenirs, and interestingly, an assortment of knives.

We spent quite a while strolling around the air-conditioned market, and bought some adorable Hello Kitty seaweed snacks. Each can cost 648 yen and they come in five flavours: Sour Plum, Yuzu and Honey, Curry, Sesame, and Brown Rice.

Block 6 – Rooftop Garden

If you are interested, you can check out the rooftop garden by taking the elevator along the elevated walkway to the top floor. However, we were quite underwhelmed because there weren’t really much going on here. There’s no harm in checking it out though.

Block 7 (Fish Wholesale Market)

Block 7 is the location of the fish wholesale market, where the world famous tuna auctions are held. There is a gallery, viewing deck, and about a dozen restaurants in Block 7.

Block 7 – Gallery

The gallery in Block 7 contains several infographics as well as other interesting displays. Entering the building from the elevated walkway, we were led directly to the gallery first.

One interesting infographics explained the “Teyari” Digit Gestures. These are hand signs used by buyers at the tuna auctions to indicate their desired bid and quantity.

There was also a miniature model of the entire Toyosu Market.

But the most striking display was definitely the life-size model of one of the largest tuna ever traded in Tsukiji Market. Caught in April 1986, it weighed in at 496kg, and measured 2.88m by 2.36m! Honestly it looked more like a shark to me.

Block 7 – Viewing Deck (Upper Floor)

Tuna Auctions
From the gallery, it was a short walk to the viewing deck which allowed us to see the famous tuna auctions on the first floor.

However, the glass panels were quite thick and so our sensory experience of the market was pretty limited. We couldn’t really hear anything at all.

By the time we reached the viewing deck at 7.30am, the auction was already over but we could still see many tuna laid out on the floor, with workers loading them onto transport vehicles.

If you want to see the tuna auction, note that it starts at 5.30am and ends at 6:30am. By 8am, almost all the tuna would have been transported away.

The upper floor viewing deck opens from 5am onwards. It is open to the public and there is no need to submit any application for access.

Recently, it was reported that a 278kg tuna was sold for a whooping US$3.1 million at the auction!

Seafood Auctions
There is an adjacent viewing gallery that lets visitors view the seafood auctions. Unlike the tuna auction section, the floor of the seafood section is grey instead of green. The seafood auctions were already over when we reached around 7.30am.

Block 7 – Viewing Deck (Lower Floor)

There is another viewing gallery on the lower floor which has much thinner glass panels, with gaps in between the panels.

This is definitely a much better place to observe the wholesale market, since visitors would be able to see and smell the market.

Unfortunately, it was still closed to visitors when we went. My guess is that they are reserving this area for guided tours of the tuna auction.

Update 19 June 2019: This viewing gallery is now open for public access. However, unlike the viewing gallery on the upper floor, you will need to submit an online application to get access to this deck.

The application window opens for around nine days each month, for a spot in the next month. For example, if you want to watch the tuna auction in July, you will have to apply between 07 to 16 June.

To apply, click here and scroll down to the bottom. Then click on the button labelled “To the application procedure”.

The application works on a ballet system and the results will be released around one week after the end of the application window period.

If you managed to get a spot, you will be given a ten-minute slot between 5.45am and 6.15am in the viewing gallery on the lower floor.

Make sure you bring along your ID (passport or some other form of identification). You will need it to access the deck.

When you reach the viewing deck, there will be locals wearing the “Language Volunteer Co-talk” tags. These are friendly English-speaking volunteers who can explain to you the details of the tuna auction.

Block 7 – Restaurants

There are many restaurants on the third floor in Block 7, and you can refer to our map above to get an idea of the food available. One of the more popular restaurants is Yachiyo, which has many good reviews on Tabelog. It is known for its delicious tonkatsu (pork cutlet) and tempura.

Toyosu Fish Market Walking Guide

This is our suggested walking guide for Toyosu Fish Market, which will help you to explore the market efficiently in the shortest amount of time.

This guide assumes that you are NOT planning to queue for Sushi Dai or Daiwa Sushi. If you plan to visit those two sushiyas, then you need to join the queue immediately once you reach the market so that you can make it for the first seating (unless you are willing to queue for a few hours). If you are going in a group, you can take turns queueing so that the rest of the group can explore the market first.

1. Start by walking along the elevated walkway from Shijo-mae Station to Block 7, which is where the famous tuna auctions are held. As mentioned earlier, the tuna auction starts at 5.30am and ends by around 6:30am. By 8am, almost all the tuna would have been transported away.

2. Next, exit Block 7 and stroll along the elevated walkway to Block 5, where you can check out the vegetables wholesale market. Daiwa Sushi is located on the first floor, but by now the queue is probably already very long.

3. After that, go to Block 6 to see the intermediate seafood wholesale market. I recommend eating in this block because there are plenty of restaurants to choose from. Sushi Dai is located here but if you start queueing at this time, you would probably need to wait at least 3 hours. Instead, I recommend going to Iso Sushi. We really enjoyed the delicious sushi at this cozy sushiya.

4. Next, go to the fourth floor and spend some time exploring Uogashi Yokocho. This bustling indoor market sells local produce, poultry, knives and many other products.

5. Finally, check out the rooftop garden on the top floor of Block 6 if you have time to spare. I would skip this place if you are in a rush because the garden is rather dull.

Getting to Toyosu Fish Market

The best way to get to Toyosu Market is by taking the Tokyo subway to Shijo-mae Station. We used this method and it worked perfectly for us.

However, the trains only start operating from 5am so if you want to reach the market early, you would need to catch a taxi. The first train from Toyosu station reaches Shijo-mae station at 5.18am. If you are staying far from Toyosu market, the taxi fare can be super expensive.

For more details, make sure you check out our detailed guide on how to get to Toyosu Market.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading our long Toyosu Fish Market guide! Hopefully you have a clearer idea of the new market after its relocation from Tsukiji.

So is it worth visiting the market? Well, yes and no.

Yes because it was interesting to see the tuna wholesale market. Even though we could only see the tunas from behind glass panels on the second floor, in the future there will be another observation deck on the first floor with thinner glass panels that have gaps. This will allow visitors to have a better sensory experience of the tuna auctions. There are also plenty of great restaurants spread across the three blocks.

However, the whole place feels rather sterile and does not have the bustling vibe of the old Tsukiji Inner Market. There isn’t much to do other than viewing the tuna auctions (from behind glass panels) and eating at the restaurants. The prices at Uogashi Yokocho are rather expensive too.

Therefore, I recommend visiting Toyosu Market only if you have extra time to spare in Tokyo. A visit to the original Tsukiji Outer Market will be a much better experience.

Toyosu Fish Market
Website: https://toyosu.tokyo/category/toyosushijo
English Address: 6 Chome-6-2 Toyosu, Koto, Tokyo 135-0061, Japan
Japanese Address: 〒135-0061 東京都江東区豊洲 6 丁目 6 − 2
Opening Hours: 5am to 5pm
Phone: +81 3 3520 8205

This article is part of our super awesome Ultimate Tokyo Travel Guide For First Timers. Everything you need to know about Tokyo is just a click away!