After a four-month hiatus, the Tsukiji Fish Market has reopened its early-morning tuna auction to sightseers. The market had been closed, apparently, out of concern for the safety of visitors amid fears of aftershocks. You have to get up early, however, to see the tuna auctions–they start at 5am, and you have to queue for access to the small viewing platform.
When I started going to Tsukiji almost 30 years ago, you could arrive when you wanted and walk among the frozen tuna carcasses lined up on the cement-floored warehouse as men with flashlights inspected them before the auction. I got there early enough to see the auction only a couple times, but I liked
it enough that I emphasized it plenty in my Frommer’s guides, recommending that because the newly arrived awake early anyway because of jetlag, they might as well head to the market on their first day in Tokyo. Other guidebooks picked up on the same, and over the years the number of visitors increased from a mere trickle to huge numbers, prompting market authorities to clamp down on the number of visitors over fears that the auction and market activities were being compromised (the extra body heat alone could affect the quality of the fish).
I hate to think that I might have been a cause of the tourism stampede, but in truth it’s the whole market experience that I love. In fact, I haven’t been to the tuna auction in years (queuing for a quick look just doesn’t seem worth it), but I go to Tsukiji every time I’m in Tokyo. I love 
wandering around the huge warehouses with all the splendors of the sea laid out, the bustling of the vendors and buyers, the drama of it all, followed by fresh sushi for breakfast. It’s one of Tokyo’s great experiences. Even if you don’t have jetlag.
