Back

View all destinations
  • Africa

  • Asia

  • Caribbean

  • Central America

  • Europe

  • Middle East

  • North America

  • Oceania

  • South America

Africa

Through its extraordinary wildlife safaris, environmental majesty and ancient traditions, Africa is an epic storybook adventure. Experience unparalleled luxury via rainforest, coastline, dessert and mountain.

Asia

Intoxicatingly beautiful and rooted in custom, Asia reveals a heightened mysticism and generosity of spirit throughout each celebrated region. Discover centuries of culture and engaging hospitality with every step.

Caribbean

Choose from an ever-increasing portfolio of luxury resorts and private islands along the azure waters of the Caribbean. Marine adventure, culinary perfection and complete seclusion all have a spot on the day’s agenda.

Central America

Soothing vistas and diverse eco-adventure await in Central America. See the sun rise over the rim of a volcano, roam the ruins of the Mayans, ride through nature conservatories and paddle through jungle mangroves.

Europe

A multitude of environs– coast, country and city – make for a feast of diversity in Europe. The unique histories, gastronomic extravagance and cultural riches bring a deluxe profusion of Old World elegance.

Middle East

Ancient cultures and modern pleasures coalesce in the fascinating nations of the eastern Mediterranean and those ringing the Persian Gulf. Encounter pockets of immense historical significance, refined opulence and breathtaking beauty.

North America

For enjoying a stateside sojourn, drinking in Canada’s natural wonders or exploring the magnitude of Mexico, this continent offers spectacular diversion. Find flavours to arouse every taste bud and an array of cultures to match.

Oceania

A world of exotic wonder awaits in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific islands. Drift through romantic nights and endless days of natural splendour, aquatic adventure, decadent resorts and epicurean delights.

South America

From the beaches of northern Brazil to the southern tracts of Patagonia, this continent is the sum of a thousand parts. Experience ancient cities and heritage haciendas, volcanic hot springs and vibrant café cultures.

Explore a world of luxury

View all destinations

Cruise Destinations

Whether you dream of island-hopping your way down Caribbean island chains, connecting the ocean waters with a Panama Canal cruise, or sailing into an exotic Mediterranean port at cocktail hour, our expert Travel Designers can curate the luxury cruise vacation of a lifetime.

Explore a world of luxury cruising

Search all cruise types

Safari Destinations

What can you expect from a Tully Luxury Travel safari? In a word: magic. You will witness extraordinary wildlife amid untamed beauty and unparalleled luxury. You will take a thousand pictures – and make a thousand more memories.

Podcasts

Luxury travel’s most inspiring stories told by its most celebrated icons. From wildlife experts, fashion designers and artists, to historians, chefs and more, this inspiring podcast series is designed to show you the world’s most exclusive travel experiences through the eyes of the people that know them best.

See all Podcasts

Explore our media

View all media

Our Partners

What is the Tully Difference? The most satisfying travel experiences are the ones that captivate and transform you as a person and that deepen your connection to the world around you. It is that belief that fuels our desire to create rewarding travel experiences for people who are passionate about discovering the essence and heart of a destination.

View all Travel Partners

The Tully Difference

Learn more

[{"term_id":953,"name":"Tokyo","slug":"tokyo","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":953,"taxonomy":"countries","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"}]

Tokyo’s Fish Markets

By Tully Luxury Travel | 11-06-2023 |

Private Travel Tokyo

When talking about dining destinations, Tokyo is on another level from anywhere else. The biggest city in the world has one of the most intense food cultures, boasting more Michelin starred restaurants (223!) than any other city, and a diverse food scene that’s like nowhere else on the planet. The city is packed with incredible restaurants in almost every food style you can imagine, and it's well worth taking a few days to explore some of the most famous dishes in the city. Tokyo is a city where high culture and street food mix and there is incredible value and excellence to be had in either direction.

For simpler food, if you want incredible ramen (there are too many to choose from but my first pick is probably Ramenya Toybox in Minowa), yakitori (my choice is Torishiki, sister restaurant to one of my NYC faves: Torien. Perfection in either city), soba (Tamawarai is unmissable), or pizza (Savoy is improbably perfect, as is Seirinkan ), there are wonderful experiences in almost every neighborhood.

For high-end food, Tokyo has phenomenal Kaiseki experiences (Den, Ishikawa, and Ginza Kojyu all provide world class tasting menus), beautiful French restaurants (Effervescence, Quintessence and Homage are as elevated as anything in Paris), as well as, of course, the best sushi restaurants on the planet (including the legendary Sukiyabashi Jiro and the three Michelin experience that is Saito). Many different factors contribute to Tokyo’s excellence in the world of dining, including a deep cultural commitment to quality at every level of production, and a thriving metropolitan core that eats out more than most cities in the world (Tokyo has 130,000 restaurants!), but I’ve talked to a few chefs and cooks who have left Tokyo to cook elsewhere, and, for all of them, the biggest difference between Tokyo and the rest of the world, is the immediate availability of high end produce at all of the markets throughout the city. None of these are more famous than the fish markets, and of those, Tsukiji is the ne plus ultra: the most famous fish market in the world.

Located in central Tokyo near the high-end Ginza shopping district, Tsukijii Outer Market is a traditional Japanese wholesale seafood market that, until it was split into two locations in 2018, was the largest fish market in the world. While the Market has a deep history, having been founded in the Edo period and relocated to its current spot in 1923, visiting the market isn’t really about exploring the history of Japan, instead it’s about reveling in its living purpose as a working market feeding tens of thousands of people and thousands of restaurants throughout the city. While you can certainly find amazing wholesale seafood throughout Tsuikiji, it has so much more than that. Every corner is filled with beautiful little shoebox shops and restaurants selling everything from tamagoyaki (Japanese omelettes) and dumplings to handcrafted Japanese knives and kitchen tools. Exploring and getting lost in the market is part of the fun, but there are a few things I’d make sure to try.

First, I’d highly recommend bringing Yen (not every booth will accept credit cards), dressing in very sensible shoes (the market floor can be very slippery), and visiting in the morning. Like all of the best markets in the world, the morning is when the chefs come to get the best quality ingredients. While the wholesale fish part of the market technically only opens to the public at 9am, I would get there a little earlier to see some of the many booths and restaurants that are open much earlier. Many of the best shops have hours that cater to the market workers, my favourite Onigiri shop “Marutoyo” is open from 3am till 3pm and the most famous coffee shop, Yonemoto, is open from 4:30 to 3:30 The most popular shops in the market are often the oldest, like the venerable Kitsuneya, a little restaurant serving hearty comfort food that has been open since 1947. Having sushi in the market is a must, especially after wandering around seeing the incredible bounty coming in from that morning's catch. The most popular is “Sushi Dai”, which has an excellent omakase option, but always requires a very long wait in line, so I’d also highly recommend my personal fave: “Itadori Bekkan”, a tiny ten seat restaurant located in an alleyway that is as good or better than Dai, without the crazy wait times. Probably the most beloved restaurant in the market is “Tonkatsu Odayasu”, which specializes in fried cutlets, but also has incredible deep fried oysters, puffer fish and other seafood. The food is amazing, and if you visit you will probably be the only one eating there that doesn’t work at the market! Beyond these spots I’d just encourage you to try to see as much of the market as possible, it’s one of the most special places in the world of food, and the seemingly endless types of seafood are a marvel that you could easily spend a day exploring.

For most tourists, the Tsukijii fish market will probably be the only fish market they need to see in Tokyo, but if you are really interested in the world of Japanese seafood, or are a sushi fanatic, there is one more celebrated experience waiting to be had: the legendary tuna auction. Every few years this auction gets covered by the international press and grabs everyone's attention, most recently in 2019 when a restaurateur paid over 33 million dollars for a single 278kg bluefin tuna. The tuna auction used to be the heart of the wholesale market, the main event of the day for anyone visiting Tsukiji, until the market was split into two parts in 2018. Now, the more rarefied and sanitized wholesale market is in the separate Toyoso intermediate wholesale market building. This is still worth visiting if you want to see the incredible sight of the tuna auction, but it’s a little trickier to attend. First you need to apply for a spot on the Tuna Auction Observation Deck, either through a guided tour, or through the government-run lottery for a spot. If you can secure this though, and want to show up for 5am, you will get to stand on a small platform with a few other sightseers and watch one of the most intense auctions in the world: a single hour, from 5:30 until 6:30, where thousands of tuna, each going for up to hundreds of thousands of Yen, are sold in seconds each to restaurants around Japan and sometimes the whole world.

Finally, for the truly adventurous traveler, or those spending a little more time in Tokyo, I’d also recommend two off-the-beaten-path markets. The first is the Farmers Market at UNU, a beautiful fruit and vegetable market outside the United Nations University that takes place every weekend and features amazing produce from across the country. The last is probably the greatest non-touristic fish market in Japan, the Adachi fish market. While the Adachi Market is in some ways a smaller and less touristic version of the Tsukiji market, with lots of great stalls and little restaurants, it does have a quirky rule where the second Saturday of every odd-numbered month is an ‘open market day’ where visitors and tourists can visit the wholesale part of the market. For those in the City for a longer stay, or those lucky enough to hit the right date, this is probably the only palace in Japan where you can experience the true deals and huge selection of an authentic Tokyo wholesale fish market. Even if you aren’t obsessed enough for these last options, I’d highly recommend Tsukijii to any Tokyo tourist that loves food, it really is one of the most vibrant and energizing culinary destinations on the planet, and a unique opportunity to see first hand why Tokyo is one of the greatest food cities on the planet.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Inspiring travel ideas and advice from our travel designers delivered straight to your inbox.

Submit

Subscribe to our Newsletter

And gain access to travel promotions exclusive to Tully Luxury Travel through our vast network of some of the largest service providers in the travel industry.

We hope to show you the Tully difference on your next journey.

Tully Luxury Travel | Newsletter Subscription

  • Send

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

false