Tsukiji Market Urges Tourists to Avoid Visiting in Year-End
Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo's Chuo Ward, a popular tourist spot crowded with food shoppers and inbound visitors, has issued an unusual request on Sunday (December 14) this month, asking tour operators to refrain from guiding tourists there toward the end of the year to avoid causing problems.
- Tsukiji Market is urging tourists to avoid visiting during the busy year-end period due to safety concerns from severe overcrowding that has caused injuries in the past.
- The request is intended to allow local and commercial shoppers to purchase food for the New Year holidays without the disruption and hassle caused by large tourist crowds.
- Officials have also cited problematic tourist behaviors, such as obstructing traffic, littering, and eating while walking, as reasons for the request.
- As an alternative, the article suggests tourists visit the new Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai facility, which is designed for tourism and welcomes visitors during the holiday season.
The request came about due to dangerous situations that occurred around year-end in previous years, when the market became so packed with tourists that some people were injured.
The Tsukiji Food Town Development Council, a nonprofit organisation formed by people associated with the market, put up at its information centre from December 1 a poster seeking to refrain from eating while walking and also from offering guided tours at the market, aiming to allow shoppers looking for foodstuffs for year-end and New Year holiday dishes to visit the market without worry.
Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people visiting the market has continued to increase.
Due to overcrowding, people often obstruct car traffic by stepping onto the roadway.
Littering from eating on the street and other problematic behaviours have also become increasingly serious.
"Shopping at this season's Tsukiji takes so much time that it's a hassle," a food buyer for commercial use lamented.
Meanwhile, the Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai tourist facility, located next to the Toyosu wholesale food market in Tokyo's Koto Ward, welcomes tourists during the year-end and New Year holiday season.
Opened in February 2024, the facility, recreating a streetscape of the Edo period (1603-1868), houses some 70 shops and restaurants.
In its restaurant zone, people can enjoy casual gourmet options made with fish and fruits handled by food professionals at the Toyosu market.
Mizucho Suisan, the operator of the barbecued seafood restaurant Isaribi in the facility, is inviting tourists to come taste its delicious fish prepared with a focus on freshness and generous portions.
The Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai facility also has a bathing area featuring an open-air bath facing Tokyo Bay.
"We hope people will enjoy the unique gourmet experience of Toyosu and have a great time," an official of the bathing facility's operator, Manyo Club Co., said.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
