Toyosu Market: the dawn tuna auction, then sushi inside the market

This is the INNER market, not Tsukiji's outer lanes. Since 2018 all of Tokyo's fish trade has moved to Toyosu — an enclosed, cold, spotless complex that is entirely a workplace rather than an attraction. Visitors are allowed in, but through their own entrance and behind glass.

It starts at five in the morning, in the dark. Being early is about taking a spot in the glass gallery before it fills — the tuna auction runs for only a few dozen minutes and waits for nobody. What's worth watching isn't the fish but how the auction runs: a bell, the seller's distinctive chanted call, and buyers bidding entirely in hand signals — nobody says a word. Afterwards you walk the produce and dry-goods halls, where everything is still sold wholesale by the crate.

Breakfast is sushi at a counter INSIDE the market, from the same supply that was auctioned an hour earlier. The tour ends at eight with the whole day still ahead of you. The trade-off is a very early start and a lot of standing on damp floors — this one is rated demanding, and it isn't for anyone who struggles with early mornings or long standing.