Tsukiji vs Toyosu Fish Market: Which to Visit, and When

Last checked October 2026By Yuki14 min read

Up before dawn, or browsing at 10 a.m.?

You have one free morning in Tokyo and want to see the fish markets. Pick Tsukiji Outer Market from 9:00 on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

Add Toyosu only if you want to watch the tuna auction, which means arriving from 5:00. On a Sunday, a holiday or a closed Wednesday, Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai is the only one of the three open daily.

New to Japan? Start here

Time needed

One morning, both markets

Typical cost

Free entry; food varies by shop

Stations

Shijo-mae; Tsukiji or Tsukijishijo

Toyosu closed

Sundays, holidays, most Wednesdays

Tsukiji

Many shops shut on the same days

Booking

Only for the auction deck lottery

Prices, hours and fares checked in October 2026; confirm on the official site before you go.

Tsukiji Did Not Close: What Moved to Toyosu in 2018

Tsukiji’s market began operating in 1935. Its wholesale side, with the auctions and the trade buyers, has since moved to another part of Tokyo: Toyosu Market, which opened on 11 October 2018.

The outer market stayed put. Its shops and small eateries still fill the streets by Tsukiji Station, and the Tsukiji Outer Market association runs an English site for visitors.

So the two names now mean two different things.

• Toyosu Market: the working wholesale market, the tuna auction, 38 restaurants
• Tsukiji Outer Market: shops and small eateries, open to visitors from 9:00
• Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai: a newer food and hot-spring complex beside Toyosu

Choosing between them comes down to five questions. What you want to see matters most: an auction floor from a walkway, or streets of small food shops.

Next is how early you can get up, since the auction happens before most hotels serve breakfast. The day of the week comes third, and it is the one most plans miss. The next section explains why.

Fourth is who is with you. Tsukiji asks visitors not to bring strollers, suitcases or other large items. Last comes time: one market fits easily into a morning, while two need the right order.

Ticked the auction or a dawn start? Toyosu is in play. Ticked Sunday, a holiday or Wednesday? Read the calendar section before anything else.

Read next: Sushi in Tokyo Without Breaking the Bank: Chains and Markets

The Wednesday Trap: One Calendar for Both Markets

Here is the detail that catches people out. The Tsukiji association publishes the Tokyo Central Wholesale Market calendar for its own visitors, and Toyosu runs on that same calendar.

That breaks a popular plan: Toyosu one day, Tsukiji on Toyosu’s day off. When Toyosu is shut, many Tsukiji shops are shut too.

Toyosu Market: 5:00 to 17:00, closed by calendar

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Toyosu page lists visitor hours of 5:00am to 5:00pm. It closes on Sundays, public holidays and other days when the market is closed, and each shop and restaurant keeps its own hours.

Those other days are mostly Wednesdays. The 2026 business-day calendar marks November closed on the 1st, 3rd, 8th, 11th, 15th, 18th, 22nd, 23rd and 29th.

Two November Wednesdays, the 4th and the 25th, close only the fruit and vegetable side. The fish side stays open, and the auction lottery lists both as tour dates.

Check your exact date.

Tsukiji Outer Market: visitors from 9:00 to 14:00

The association’s shopping page gives visitor hours of 9:00a.m. to 2:00p.m. Before 9:00, shopping at the wholesale facility called Tsukiji Uogashi is limited to people with advance permission.

Many shops close on Sundays and on some Wednesdays. The Tsukiji calendar page adds that some outer market shops open even on market-closed days. A Sunday visit is thinner, not empty, so ask a shop directly if one matters to you.

Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai: the one open daily

Senkyaku Banrai opened on 1 February 2024 in the outer area of Toyosu Fish Market. GO TOKYO lists it as open daily, with shops from 10:00 to 18:00 and restaurants from 10:00 to 22:00, varying by floor.

It does not follow the market calendar. That makes it the honest fallback when both markets are shut, though it opens far too late for the auction.

Here is the pattern by type of day, built from the two official 2026 calendars:

• Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat: Toyosu open, Tsukiji from 9:00, Senkyaku Banrai open
• Most Wednesdays: Toyosu closed, many Tsukiji shops shut, Senkyaku Banrai open
• Sundays and holidays: Toyosu closed, many Tsukiji shops shut, Senkyaku Banrai open

Weekday holidays close the market too, such as Tuesday 3 November and Monday 23 November 2026, so check the calendar for your date, not just the weekday.

Watching the Tuna Auction at Toyosu: Walkway or Lottery Deck

Tsukiji no longer has a tuna auction. It moved with the wholesale market, so anyone who wants to watch the bidding has to go to Toyosu.

The Toyosu visitor page gives two ways to see it. You can enter a lottery for the Tuna Auction Observation Deck, or use the Visitor’s Walkway on the second floor without applying.

The second-floor walkway: no booking, from 5:00

The Toyosu visitor FAQ says that even without the lottery, you can view the tuna wholesale area from the visitor passage on the second floor. Visitors can enter from 5 a.m. on opening days, and there is no limit on numbers.

For most people, the walkway is enough. There is no account to make, no dates to choose weeks ahead and no passport check at a meeting point.

Aim to be on the walkway before 5:45, when the official deck tour begins. The market does not publish a fixed start time for the bidding itself, so earlier is safer than later.

Set two alarms.

The observation-deck lottery: free, up to 5 per group

The closer view is the observation deck, and places go by lottery, not first come, first served. The tour is free and runs from 5:45 to 6:25 a.m., with a 5:30 a.m. meeting time at the Promotional Corner in Block 7, 3F.

The main rules, from the November 2026 process sheet and the FAQ:

• One application covers up to five people, newborn babies included
• Choose up to three dates; each group may apply only once
• 100 people are chosen per day in total
• Bring photo ID such as a passport, plus the results screen
• Miss the 5:30 meeting time and you miss the tour
• No date changes, no same-day places, no waiting list
• No second round of recruitment

The entry window is short. For November 2026 tours it ran from 3:00 p.m. on 7 October to 11:59 p.m. on 13 October, with results on 22 October at about 6:00 p.m.

For December 2026 tours, entries run from 3:00 p.m. on 4 November to 11:59 p.m. on 10 November, with results on 19 November. In late 2026, then, the window opened about three weeks before the tour month and stayed open for a week.

Apply through the lottery site linked from the Tokyo government’s Toyosu page.

Reader

Can my hotel or a tour company enter the lottery for me?

Yuki

No. The FAQ says people apply directly. We found no published odds, so plan on the walkway and treat a win as a bonus.

Photos are allowed on the deck tour but flash is not, and anyone who is drunk cannot watch the auction.

Eating at Tsukiji Shops, Toyosu Counters or Senkyaku Banrai

None of the three publishes an official price list, and prices vary by shop. For sushi budgets, from conveyor chains to market counters, see our guide to sushi in Tokyo without breaking the bank. This section is about how eating works at each place.

Tsukiji Outer Market: small shops, yen in hand

Tsukiji suits people who want to try several small things rather than sit through one meal. The association says most shops accept Japanese yen only, and card acceptance varies by shop.

There are two house rules on the how-to-enjoy page. Eat inside the eatery or in a space set aside for eating, and ask the shopkeeper before you photograph a shop.

The drawback is space. Tsukiji asks visitors to leave suitcases, large bags and strollers behind, which is hard on families. For what to order beyond fish, our Tokyo local food guide covers Tsukiji and nearby Tsukishima.

Bring cash in yen.

Toyosu’s 38 restaurants: early hours, long queues

Toyosu suits early risers who want a sit-down breakfast near the auction. The market’s restaurant page counts 38 restaurants: 13 in the Management Facilities Building, 22 in the Fisheries Intermediate Wholesale Market Building and 3 in the Fruit and Vegetable Market Building.

Many open as early as 4 a.m., and day visitors form lines at them. GO TOKYO also lists about 70 shops in the Uogashi Yokocho area and a grassy rooftop garden with views of Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower.

The drawback is the queue at the best-known counters. Each restaurant keeps its own hours and payment rules, so check its listing before you queue.

Senkyaku Banrai: late start, open every day

Senkyaku Banrai suits closed days, rainy afternoons and anyone who never wanted a 5 a.m. alarm. Admission is free, and its restaurants serve until 22:00, varying by floor.

Its English site puts it 4 minutes on foot from Shijo-mae Station, connected to the station’s second-floor pedestrian deck. There is a free foot-bath garden, and the Tokyo Toyosu Manyo Club bath is open 24 hours for a fee.

The drawback? It is a new complex next to the market, not the working market itself.

Tsukiji, Toyosu and Senkyaku Banrai Side by Side

The table puts the three places next to each other on the two things that decide most plans: what each is good for and when it is open. Hours are as listed in October 2026; check the official site for your date.

Plan your trip: the tools we use

Our pick: Tsukiji Outer Market for most first-timers, with Toyosu first only if you want the auction.

Entry is free at all three. What you spend depends on what you eat, plus a train fare to Toyosu of ¥190–390 on the Yurikamome, depending on distance.

Toyosu wins on two counts: the auction and the early hour. Tsukiji wins on ease. You can sleep in, arrive by subway, and walk out onto streets full of small shops.

Senkyaku Banrai wins only on the calendar. That is still worth a lot on a Sunday or a closed Wednesday.

Some visitors prefer a guided food walk at Tsukiji, where someone else handles the ordering. Klook, GetYourGuide and Viator all list Tsukiji tours; what they include and cost varies, so read the details before you book.

Toyosu at Dawn, Tsukiji by 9:00: Both in One Morning

Can you do both? Yes, on a day when both are open, and the order matters. Toyosu goes first because the auction is early. Tsukiji goes second because visitor shopping starts at 9:00.

Flip the order and the plan falls apart. By the time Tsukiji opens to visitors, the deck tour slot has long finished.

Here is the route, with times from the Tokyo government’s Toyosu access sheet:

1. Toyosu Market walkway (from 5:00)
2. Breakfast at a Toyosu counter, then about 4–5 min on foot
3. Shijo-mae Station (Yurikamome)
4. Yurikamome · about 27 min · 13 stations
5. Shimbashi Station
6. Subway to Tsukiji · plan the change in a route app
7. Tsukiji or Tsukijishijo Station
8. About 1 min on foot
9. Tsukiji Outer Market (after 9:00)

The gap between the end of the auction and 9:00 is your breakfast. Use it at a Toyosu counter, or take a look at the rooftop garden, rather than standing outside Tsukiji before the shops open to visitors.

The Tsukiji access page puts the outer market 1 minute from Tsukijishijo Station on the Oedo Line and from Tsukiji Station on the Hibiya Line. Higashi-ginza Station, on the Asakusa and Hibiya lines, is 3 minutes away.

Yurikamome fares and the subway pass gap

The Yurikamome fare table lists adult tickets at ¥190, ¥260, ¥330 or ¥390 by distance, and ¥189 to ¥388 with an IC card. A One-Day Pass is about ¥820, or ¥410 for a child.

The Tokyo Subway Ticket, about ¥1,000, ¥1,500 or ¥2,000 for 24, 48 or 72 hours, covers Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway lines. Yurikamome is a separate line, not on the Tokyo Subway Ticket’s list. Our Tokyo subway pass guide shows when the pass pays off.

Got the subway pass? Ride the subway to Toyosu Station, then take the Yurikamome 2 stops, about 3 minutes, to Shijo-mae. You pay only that short hop.

Other ways to Toyosu: Toei buses

The same access sheet lists a Toei bus from Shimbashi-ekimae to Shijo-mae-ekimae, about 25–40 minutes. Another Toei bus runs from the Marunouchi South Exit of Tokyo Station to Shin-Toyosu-ekimae in about 20–25 minutes.

Buses are slower and harder to time on a dark morning. For a 5:00 start, the Yurikamome is the simpler choice, and there is no public parking at Toyosu if you were thinking of driving.

Before the Alarm Goes Off: Steps and House Rules

A market morning goes wrong in a few predictable ways: the wrong day, a missed lottery window, a late arrival or a suitcase at Tsukiji. Work through these steps in order.

Then a few house rules from the Tsukiji association and the Toyosu page:

• No suitcases, large bags or strollers at Tsukiji
• Wear shoes that cover your toes; no high heels or sandals
• Ask the shopkeeper before photographing a shop
• Eat inside the shop or in a space for eating
• Carry yen cash for Tsukiji
• Use public transport to Toyosu; there is no public parking

Plat Tsukiji, the outer market’s information centre, has large, medium and small coin lockers, English-speaking staff, an ATM and currency exchange. It opens 8:00–14:00 on weekdays and Saturdays, and 10:00–14:00 on Sundays, holidays and market-closed days.

One thing stands out from the 2026 Toyosu calendar. Most Wednesdays are shaded as closed, and Wednesday is the day few itineraries think to check. A Tuesday-to-Thursday Tokyo stay can lose its market morning without anyone noticing until they arrive.

Check the date first.

How We Checked This, and Which Market Suits Whom

The pages behind this guide

We built this comparison from official pages, all checked in October 2026. For Toyosu, that means the Tokyo government visitor page, its 2026 business-day calendar, the November 2026 lottery process sheet, the visitor FAQ and the access sheet.

For Tsukiji, we used the association’s shopping, how-to-enjoy, access, calendar and Plat Tsukiji pages. GO TOKYO, the Senkyaku Banrai site and the Yurikamome and Tokyo Metro fare pages filled in the rest.

What we could not verify: meal prices at any of the three, the exact hours of each Toyosu restaurant and Senkyaku Banrai shop, the odds of winning the lottery, and the time the bidding itself starts. We left all of those out rather than guess.

Who each market is for

• First-timers on a normal schedule: Tsukiji Outer Market from 9:00
• Auction fans who can wake at 4:30: Toyosu walkway, then breakfast there
• Planners with time to enter a lottery: the Toyosu deck tour, as a bonus
• Families with a stroller, or anyone in the rain: Toyosu’s indoor buildings
• Visitors on a Sunday, holiday or closed Wednesday: Senkyaku Banrai
• Anyone with one morning for both: Toyosu at dawn, Tsukiji after 9:00

If you are short on mornings, go to Tsukiji and skip Toyosu unless the auction is the point of the trip. Toyosu is a working wholesale market seen from walkways, which is exactly why it pays off for auction fans and feels quiet to everyone else.

Our recommendation: Tsukiji Outer Market from 9:00 on an open market day, with Toyosu added only for the auction.

Written by Yuki, editor of Japan Travel Notes, an independent Japan travel guide based in Osaka.
Japan Travel Notes is an independent guide, not a travel agency. Prices, hours and train times change, so check the official site before you book.

FAQ

QIs Tsukiji fish market still open?

Yes, the outer market is. The wholesale market and the tuna auction moved to Toyosu, which opened on 11 October 2018. The outer market’s shops stayed and welcome visitors from 9:00 to 14:00.

QCan I see the tuna auction without a reservation?

Yes. Toyosu’s second-floor visitor walkway needs no booking and has no limit on numbers, from 5 a.m. on opening days. Only the closer observation deck goes by a free monthly lottery.

QAre the fish markets open on Sundays?

Toyosu is closed on Sundays, public holidays and other market-closed days, including most Wednesdays. Many Tsukiji shops close on the same days, though some open. Senkyaku Banrai is open daily.

QWhich is better for a sushi breakfast?

Toyosu, if you are up early: many of its 38 restaurants open as early as 4 a.m. Tsukiji starts at 9:00 for visitors. Prices vary by shop; our Tokyo sushi guide covers budgets.

QHow do I get from Toyosu to Tsukiji?

Take the Yurikamome from Shijo-mae to Shimbashi, about 27 minutes, then the subway to Tsukiji or Tsukijishijo Station. Both are 1 minute on foot from the outer market.

QCan children join the auction tour?

Yes. Applications must include everyone, from newborn babies to adults, and count toward the five-person limit. At Tsukiji, leave the stroller behind, as the association asks visitors not to bring one.

Cover Photo: Violette79, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons