Tsukiji was once known as the world’s largest fish market. After the wholesale market was relocated to Toyosu in 2018, iconic scenes such as the early-morning tuna auctions disappeared. Even so, the surrounding outer market has remained active. Lined with wholesale and retail shops, sushi counters, seafood bowl restaurants, stores selling dried foods, knives, and kitchen tools, the area has become a “town of food” that attracts visitors from both Japan and abroad.
Tsukiji: From Legendary Fish Market to Today’s Foodie Hub and Beyond
It was in this Tsukiji that an unusual message appeared this year: a request asking tourists not to come during the year-end period.
A Euphemistic Message Called the “Shopping Support Declaration”
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| A poster displayed at the tourist information center strongly urges guided tour operators to refrain from operating during the year-end period. |
In December 2025, the Tsukiji Town Development Council, a local organization representing the outer market, issued an announcement titled the “Shopping Support Declaration.” At first glance, the phrase sounds welcoming and positive. In reality, however, it was a notice intended to prevent congestion during the busiest days of the year.
The declaration asked people, especially between December 25 and 30, to refrain from:
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group tours
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guided sightseeing
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eating while walking on the street
It also requested that those who wished to eat use restaurants with seating inside their premises, rather than makeshift tables or stools placed along the road.
The wording “Shopping Support Declaration” is a good example of Japanese indirectness. Rather than explicitly saying “please do not come” or “access will be restricted,” it uses a positive, supportive expression while in effect urging people to restrain their behavior.
Considering that tourism has supported Tsukiji’s vitality since the wholesale market moved away, asking visitors to limit their activities may seem contradictory. Yet behind this request lies a very real and seasonal necessity.
Why the Year-End Period Is Different
To understand this, one must look at the special relationship between Tsukiji and the year-end season.
In Japan, it is customary to prepare special dishes for the New Year. As a result, many long-time customers have traditionally made it a habit to shop at Tsukiji every year in late December. In addition, for restaurants, this period is the most important procurement season of the entire year. Large numbers of professionals gather from early morning to purchase seafood and processed foods.
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| Toyosu Market, which replaced the former Tsukiji wholesale market in 2018. |
As mentioned earlier, even after the relocation of the main wholesale market, Tsukiji continues to function as a place where wholesale and retail activities coexist.
With regular customers shopping for New Year’s food and restaurant professionals arriving early in the day, Tsukiji reaches its highest level of density at this time of year. The passageways are extremely narrow, while small trucks and handcarts move constantly to load and unload goods. Tourists walk through the same limited space. When congestion increases, these overlapping flows easily block movement and raise safety concerns.
For businesses, asking tourists to refrain from visiting directly affects sales. Seen in that light, the request can be understood as a painful but necessary decision made to protect Tsukiji’s long-standing role as a working market.
What the Situation Was Actually Like on the Ground
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| A guided tour passing a “please refrain” poster. |
So what was Tsukiji actually like in practice? The author visited on December 28.
First, regarding the announcement itself: on site, the only visible references to the “Shopping Support Declaration” were a small number of posters written solely in Japanese. There were no large signboards, no multilingual notices, and no strong enforcement. While there were security staff managing traffic flow, there was no sense of strict control or forceful guidance. For visitors who had not encountered domestic media coverage in advance, it would have been almost impossible to know that such a request had even been issued.
As for the crowds, there were certainly many people, and some of the group tours that had been mentioned in the announcement could indeed be seen. At times, delivery vehicles appeared to struggle to pass through. However, such scenes are not unusual in Tsukiji, and there was little sense of serious friction or tension.
In fact, compared only with past year-end periods, it even felt somewhat less crowded than usual.
In other words, when compared with the tone of the advance warnings, both the on-site messaging and the actual level of congestion felt far less urgent than one might have expected. Overall, the atmosphere was relatively calm.
Another Reason the Crowds Were Lighter Than Expected
The relative lack of congestion seems to owe less to the effectiveness of the official request and more to another factor.
Without going into detail, it is hard to ignore the impact of the current political situation between Japan and China. The number of visitors from China has clearly declined, and walking through the area, it felt as though their presence was less than half of what it had been at peak levels.
As a result, despite the highly unusual message asking tourists to refrain from visiting, major confusion never materialized. In that sense, the situation was shaped not so much by policy or messaging as by broader external circumstances.
Between a “Market Town” and a “Food Theme Park”
Tsukiji is no longer a purely wholesale market. At the same time, it has not fully transformed into a conventional tourist destination. It still preserves a rare structure in which professional buyers and sightseers coexist within the same narrow streets.
This ambiguity is precisely what has attracted visitors who want to experience the atmosphere of a “real” market. Yet it is also the source of congestion and friction.
Even while anticipating crowds large enough to justify telling people not to come, those involved cannot impose strict restrictions, since doing so would directly affect business. As a result, on-the-ground operations remain deliberately mild and restrained. In the end, it was not so much the official appeal itself but external factors that reduced visitor numbers.
Tourism, after all, is shaped not only by people’s interests but also by international relations and broader social conditions.
This year’s year-end season at Tsukiji, calmer than initially expected, reflects a moment of transition. It captures the dynamism of a place still suspended between being a “market town” and a “food-themed destination,” negotiating its identity in changing times.
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