Should you go to Tsukiji or Toyosu on a first visit to Tokyo?
Go to Tsukiji for a first visit: it is where you eat breakfast and browse, and it sits a short walk from Ginza. Tsukiji Outer Market is the old market's retail streets, still selling fish, knives, tea and dried goods in narrow lanes, and its general shopping hours run 9am to 2pm. Toyosu, the city's wholesale fish market on the bay since 2018, is a building you watch from behind glass, and it only earns the early start if you want to see the tuna auction.
Do Toyosu if the auction is the point, or if you are already going to teamLab Planets, one stop away on the Yurikamome line. Do both on one morning only if you will be up at 5am anyway: the auction first, then breakfast at Tsukiji.
When are Tsukiji and Toyosu open in November and December 2026?
| What | Hours or dates |
|---|---|
| Tsukiji Outer Market | 6am to 9am for trade buyers, 9am to 2pm for general shopping. Each shop sets its own days and hours. |
| Toyosu Market visitor route | 5am to 5pm, closed Sundays, public holidays and market closed days. |
| Toyosu tuna auction viewing | 5:45am to 6:25am on market days. The observation deck is by lottery; the second floor walkway needs no booking. |
| Both markets closed, November | Sundays 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29; Tuesday 3 and Monday 23 (public holidays); Wednesdays 11 and 18. Tsukiji follows the same calendar. |
| Both markets closed, December | Wednesdays 2, 9, 16 and 23; Sundays 6, 13 and 20; Thursday 31. Sunday, December 27 is an extra open day. |
| Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai | Open every day: restaurants 10am to 10pm (some close at 8pm), shops 10am to 6pm. |
Not every Wednesday is a closed day: November 4 and 25 are normal market days.
Can you see the tuna auction at Toyosu, and how do you get a deck spot?
Yes, from the second floor walkway without booking, or from the observation deck if you win the monthly lottery. The auction runs 5:45am to 6:25am on market days. The observation deck is the one worth having: it is closer to the auction floor than the walkway, and it takes 100 people a day.
- It is a lottery, not first come, first served. Entries open for one week the month before. The November round took entries October 7 to 13 and announced winners on October 22. The December round had not been posted when I checked on October 27.
- One application covers up to five people, and the person applying must be of junior high school age or older. You list three preferred dates. It is free.
- On the day, meet at 5:30am at the promotional corner on the third floor of Block 7, with photo ID such as a passport for everyone in the group and the winning screen. No ID, no entry.
Apply on the official lottery site, which was down for maintenance on October 27. If you lose, the second floor walkway still shows the auction, and I would go anyway: the 5am taxi is the hard part, not the view.
Where should you eat breakfast, Tsukiji or Toyosu?
Tsukiji. You can graze a few stalls, sit at a counter, then walk into Ginza by mid-morning. Until 9am the lanes give priority to trade buyers, so I'd arrive around 8, eat first, then browse the knife, tea and pantry shops once the general hours start. The market asks you to eat inside or in front of the shop you bought from, not while walking, to leave large bags in a locker, and not to bargain.
The Tokyo food guide has what to order and the sit-down breakfast alternative nearby. Keep breakfast light if you have an omakase dinner that night; the omakase booking guide puts a Tsukiji morning and Ginza afternoon on the same day as the counter.
At Toyosu, the restaurants inside the market keep their own hours and follow the market calendar. Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai, the Edo-style food hall and hot spring complex built beside the market, is the easier place to eat there: it is open every day, with restaurants from 10am and a free rooftop foot bath from 9am to 10pm.
What if your only free morning is a Sunday or Wednesday?
On a closed day, skip Toyosu and treat Tsukiji as a thinner morning. Tsukiji marks the same closed days as Toyosu and says some outer market shops close on them, so check the shops you care about before going. Toyosu's visitor route is shut on closed days, and there is no auction to watch.
If a Sunday is your only Toyosu morning, Senkyaku Banrai is still open and pairs with teamLab Planets; the teamLab guide covers which of the two museums to book. For Tsukiji, move it to a market day and keep the Sunday for a neighborhood that does not depend on a trade calendar.
Who should choose Toyosu over Tsukiji?
Choose Toyosu if you want the auction, are traveling with children who will be up early from jet lag, or are staying near the bay. Jet lag makes the first or second morning the natural one for a 5:30am start. Choose Tsukiji for everything else: a first visit, a solo morning that ends in Ginza, a food day, or a group that would rather eat than watch.
Both fit a longer plan. The three-day Tokyo itinerary and the solo Tokyo plan already pair Tsukiji with Ginza. For a December trip, the Tokyo in December guide lists the market closures alongside the museums.