Toyosu Tuna Auction and Tsukiji Fish Market Private Tour
The auction left Tsukiji in October 2018, so this morning begins where it went: Toyosu, at Shijō-mae station, before most of Tokyo is awake. Ninety minutes on the auction floor and the wholesalers' aisles with a private guide, then across the water for ninety minutes in the Tsukiji lanes. It is the only departure here that reaches both.
Two markets, one morning, starting before dawn
The auction, watched properly
Ninety minutes at Toyosu with somebody explaining what is being bid on and how the bidding works.
Both markets in one morning
Toyosu for the trade, Tsukiji for the eating, in the only order that works — the auction is over by seven.
Private, so only your party
Nobody else is booked onto it, which matters at five in the morning more than it does at ten.
Step-free throughout
Wheelchair-accessible surfaces and transport throughout, which almost nothing else in these lanes offers.
The wholesalers' aisles
The intermediate wholesale level at Toyosu, above the auction floor, where the fish is broken down.
Where the auction actually is, and why that matters
Tokyo's wholesale fish trade stopped trading at Tsukiji on 6 October 2018 and reopened at Toyosu on 11 October. The auctions went with it. A search for a Tsukiji fish auction tour returns a busy market that has not held an auction in years, which is the most common disappointment in these lanes and one a four-star reviewer on another walk states plainly.
This departure is built the honest way round: it meets you at Toyosu, where the auction is, and brings you back to Tsukiji, where the food is. The auction page sets out both ways of watching it, including the one that needs no lottery at all.
The lottery, and what happens if you are not drawn
Toyosu offers close-up viewing from a deck beside the auction floor to about a hundred people a day, drawn by lottery, with applications opening roughly a month ahead. One reviewer here was drawn and describes the closer deck; another watched twelve hundred fish sold in under an hour.
If you are not drawn, the second-floor visitors' walkway above the floor needs no application at all, and this tour goes either way. A reviewer travelling with a young daughter says the guide is what made a confusing lottery and viewing process manageable, which is a fair summary of what the fare buys.
How the morning runs, market to market
- Meet at Shijo-mae Station before dawn
- Toyosu Market and the tuna auction floor
- The wholesalers' aisles on the intermediate level
- Bus or rail across the water to Tsukiji
- The outer market lanes with your guide
- Break to eat whatever you have found
- Finish in the Tsukiji outer market
Who it suits, and who should book something else
This one is for you if: Anyone whose actual reason for coming is the auction, which means starting at Toyosu before dawn and accepting that the Tsukiji lanes come second. It suits a party rather than a solo traveller, because the fare is per person and the guide is yours alone. It is also the one departure here that states step-free surfaces and transport throughout.
Book something else if: Anyone who wants a lie-in, and anyone whose real interest is the eating. The auction is over by seven and this morning is built around that. If what you want is the Tsukiji lanes at a civilised hour, the three-hour food walk starts mid-morning with the tastings included, and it will feed you far better than this one.
What the fare covers
In the fare
- English-speaking guide
- A private tour — only your party takes part
Not in the fare
- Breakfast
- Taxi fare from your hotel to Toyosu
- Bus fare from Toyosu to Tsukiji
Meeting at Shijō-mae station
Shijo-mae Station, Toyosu. Every walk into these lanes names its own corner — Tsukiji Fish Market food tour meet at eight different points inside four hundred metres — and the map page puts all of them on the ground with the station exit for each.
Know before you go
- Breakfast is not included. Nor is the taxi to Toyosu or the bus back to Tsukiji. Budget both on top of the fare.
- Meet at Shijō-mae. On the Yurikamome line, right by the market. There is no public parking at Toyosu at all.
- Dress for a cold building. Toyosu is refrigerated and you will be standing still. Closed shoes, and a layer more than you think.
- No luggage. There is nowhere to leave a suitcase at either market.
- The auction is quick. Bidding starts around half past five and is over inside the hour. Being late is being absent.
- Toyosu keeps the same calendar. It closes on Sundays, public holidays and its own scheduled days, the same calendar that governs Tsukiji's Wednesdays.
Toyosu, and the tuna
What travellers said about this morning
Watching twelve hundred fish sold to wholesalers in under an hour is something you do not forget. Sachiyo explained what was happening as it happened. Then she walked us through the outer market.
Geoff_C · May 2026
It needs a very early start, which is the price of seeing the auction at all. We were drawn in the lottery and got the closer deck. Both guides were friendly and let us stop at the stalls we wanted afterwards.
Natasha_D · June 2026
Having a young daughter with us made a private tour the right call, because it could bend around her. Mayumi steered us through a lottery and viewing process that would otherwise have been confusing.
Rebecca_M · May 2026
Sachiyo went to real trouble to look after a group of six. The auction at Toyosu was the point of it and it delivered. A short hop to the Tsukiji outer market and some good street food finished the morning.
Damian_M · June 2026
Frequently asked questions
Is the tuna auction at Tsukiji?
Do I need to win the lottery to see it?
How early does it start?
Is breakfast included?
Is it suitable with children?
What if I only want the Tsukiji market?
The other ways into the lanes worth comparing
- Tokyo Tsukiji Fish Market Food Walking Tour with 5 Tastings
- Tokyo: Tsukiji Fish Market Food and Walking tour
Tsukiji Fish Market Tours has all of them in one grid, with prices, group caps and refund windows.