TSUKIJI FISH AUCTION
Tokyo’s iconic Tsukiji fish market closes its doors
Tokyo — Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji market, the world’s largest fish market and a major tourist attraction, held its final tuna auction on Saturday before a controversial move to a new site next week. Hundreds of fishmongers are packing up and preparing to leave Tsukiji for a gleaming new $5bn market set to open on Thursday on reclaimed land farther from central Tokyo. The most expensive fish — a 162kg tuna — sold for ¥4.3m at the early morning auction, Kyodo News reported.
"I am very grateful and happy that we could have continued business smoothly all these years until today. I would like to thank Tsukiji from the bottom of my heart," Hiroyasu Itoh, chair of the seafood wholesalers’ association, told reporters. The 83-year-old Tsukiji market drew tens of thousands of visitors a year to its warren of stalls with exotic species of fish and fresh sushi. But it had become dilapidated and unsanitary, city officials said in planning the move. A survey by a group opposed to the relocatio...
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