Allergies and Diets at the Tsukiji Fish Market
A seafood market is a hard place to eat with an allergy, and the tours that walk through it differ enormously in what they can do about it. Some will arrange a plate around you. Several say plainly that they cannot. Here is which is which, in each operator's own terms.
What a Tsukiji walk can and cannot do about an allergy
The distinction that matters is whose kitchen the food comes out of.
A walking tour buys from shops it does not own. The guide can steer you away from a stall, but cannot change what that stall cooks or how, and one operator says so directly: it cannot guarantee allergy-free food because the kitchens are not theirs. A sushi class has its own kitchen, its own ingredients and a menu it controls, which is why the classes are the flexible end of this list and the walks are not.
Tell the operator when you book, never on the day. Two of these listings state outright that a same-day request cannot be met.
What each operator says, in its own words
Most of the listings say nothing at all about diet, which is not a promise in either direction — ask before you book. These do say something:
What each listing says about diet and allergies
| The tour | What its listing says |
|---|---|
| Sushi-making class with a professional chef | Vegetarian and gluten-free options available on request. Kosher cannot be accommodated. Will try to meet allergy requests, though it may not be possible |
| Market walk and sushi-making class | States both that vegetarian, halal, gluten-free and allergy requests are not accommodated AND that it will try to meet allergy requests. The two lines contradict each other — ask the operator before you book |
| Food and culture tour with a bento class | Tell them in advance of allergies or dietary requests such as vegetarian and they will do their best. Same-day requests may not be possible. Kosher cannot be accommodated |
| Five-tastings food walking tour | Does not accommodate vegetarian, halal, gluten-free or allergy requests. If you cannot eat fish you cannot join |
| Behind the scenes with ten seafood tastings | Cannot guarantee allergy-free food, because it is prepared in kitchens that are not the operator's. Vegetarian and vegan options are not available |
| Fifteen-stop market tour | Dietary needs must be requested at booking. Requests made without prior notice cannot be accommodated |
Japan's eight labelled allergens
Japanese law requires eight allergens to be declared on packaged food. Walnut joined the list in 2023, with the transition completed in 2025. Packaged goods in the market carry these; food cooked at a stall does not.
Japan's eight mandatory labelled allergens
| Allergen | Japanese | Where it turns up at Tsukiji |
|---|---|---|
| Shrimp or prawn | エビ | Everywhere. Tempura, sushi, dashi stock, senbei crackers |
| Crab | カニ | Grilled legs at the stalls, crab miso, kanikama sticks |
| Wheat | 小麥 | Soy sauce, tempura batter, ramen, fish cake binder |
| Buckwheat | そば | Soba, and shared fryers and boiling water |
| Egg | 卵 | Tamagoyaki above all, plus tartare sauces and binders |
| Milk | 乳 | Less common here, but in croquettes, sauces and sweets |
| Peanut | 落花生 | Sauces, snack mixes, some dressings |
| Walnut | くるみ | Wagashi, sweet snacks, some dressings |
The twenty more that are recommended, not required
Twenty further ingredients carry a recommended declaration rather than a required one, and several of them matter a great deal in a fish market: squid, abalone, salmon roe, salmon, mackerel, soybean, sesame and gelatin among them. A label that does not mention squid is not a label that promises there is none.
Dashi, and the fish in things that look vegetarian
This is the trap that catches vegetarians in Japan generally and here in particular. Dashi, the stock underneath an enormous amount of Japanese cooking, is usually made with katsuobushi — dried, smoked, fermented skipjack tuna. It is in miso soup, in the simmering liquid for vegetables, in tamagoyaki, in noodle broth and in many dipping sauces.
A dish can contain no visible fish and still be built on it. Kombu-only dashi exists and is genuinely vegetarian, but you have to ask for it by name, and a market stall cooking at volume will not be making two stocks.
Soy sauce, wheat and the gluten question
Ordinary Japanese soy sauce (shōyu) is brewed from wheat as well as soybeans, so it is not gluten-free. It is on every sushi counter in the market. Tamari is the wheat-free style and is not what you will be handed by default.
Tempura batter is wheat. Fish cake and surimi products usually contain wheat starch as a binder. Soba is buckwheat but is very often cut with wheat flour. If you are coeliac rather than avoiding gluten by preference, the sushi class that states gluten-free options is the only format here designed to help you.
The phrases worth having on your phone
Show, do not say. Screenshot these before you go.
Allergy and dietary phrases for a Tsukiji counter
| English | Japanese | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| I have a food allergy | 食物アレルギーがあります | Shokumotsu arerugī ga arimasu |
| I cannot eat shrimp or crab | エビとカニが食べられません | Ebi to kani ga taberaremasen |
| Does this contain wheat? | 小麥は入っていますか | Komugi wa haitte imasu ka |
| Does this contain egg? | 卵は入っていますか | Tamago wa haitte imasu ka |
| Is there fish stock in this? | だしは入っていますか | Dashi wa haitte imasu ka |
| I do not eat meat or fish | 肉と魚は食べません | Niku to sakana wa tabemasen |
| Without soy sauce, please | 醬油なしでお願いします | Shōyu nashi de onegai shimasu |
If you do not eat fish at all
Be straightforward with yourself about this one: it is a seafood market, and the tours are built around seafood, and one of them will not take you at all if you cannot eat fish.
There is still a morning in it. The dried goods, tea, pickle and knife shops are a substantial part of the market and have nothing to do with fish. Tamagoyaki, fruit, senbei crackers, mochi, matcha and the produce stalls will feed you. And the sushi classes are the one format that can build a plate around you, if you ask when you book.
Pick a walk that can answer your question
Every listing's own wording on diet is in the table above. Ask the operator through your booking, and move it free at twenty-four hours if the answer is no.
The market page sets out what is sold beyond seafood, visitor information has the hours and the conduct rules, and Tsukiji Fish Market Tours compares the walks. A Tsukiji Fish Market food tour is worth choosing on this table rather than on the price.
- The fourteen operators' own booking listings, read on the dates recorded in the affiliate disclosure
- Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency food labelling standards, for the eight mandatory and twenty recommended allergens
- Tsukiji Outer Market official site
Operators change their policies. The listing you book from is the authority, and a written answer from the operator beats every table above.