Published on May, 2025

Nobby was an informative and engaging guide. We enjoyed learning about the historical changes to the Tsukiji and Toyosu Markets. He gave his personal recommendations for good and well-priced food at the Tsukiji market which we really appreciated! Thank you for a wonderful tour!

Published on May, 2025

Totally recommend this tour with amazing guide Yumi-san! It’s worth getting up early to see the incredible tuna auction at Toyosu Market. Yumi-san was super friendly and professional, with good humour and loads of interesting information about the market and the auction. Top experience in Tokyo! ありがとございます！

Published on May, 2025

Yumi was fantastic. Very prompt, professional and yet flexible... well worth getting uo at 4 am ...thus was one of the best tours we went on....

Published on Apr, 2025

It was an eye opener to see the size and number of bluefin tuna on auction. It was also fun to learn about the auctioning process. You will have a deeper appreciation of the next piece of tuna sashimi you eat. Our guide Tomoko was fantastic! She was knowledgeable and handy with tips on best lunch options at Tsukiji market.

Published on Apr, 2025

Mayumi Hatano was an incredible guide. It was like taking a tour of cultural Japan without going all over the city. Her knowledge of the workings of the fish auction was the tip of the iceberg. Every time she said anything it opened up new questions which involved so much history about Japan, its people, its beliefs, its culture, etc. there was not one question we asked her that she couldn’t answer from knives, to when the strawberries were in season, to which tuna is the best and in what waters they come from and when they were in season even information on how the Japanese are self regulating their intake of bluefin tuna since they are over fishing it now. She took us to the best sushi restaurant that only the auction people eat and knew many of the vendors in many of the stalls. She showed us the best places to buy tea and where to eat in the market although we were so full from a sushi breakfast at 6:37 am which was way cheaper than the stalls in the the outer market. We had an incredible history of where the original market was and why it was there and the canals that were built to lead the fresh fish from the harbor right to Edo castle for the shogun and eventually the Imperial family. At the end she took us to the subway station and showed us how to purchase our tickets and maneuver the sub system. She connected with us early through What’s App and even told us to leave earlier to get a good place to view the auction action. She took us to a Shinto shrine explaining the difference between the two religions (Buddhist/Shinto) and why both were important to the Japanese. It was an amazing 3-4 hour journey through Japan when all we wanted to see was the fish auction and outer market. I understand why some may find it expensive because yes, the auction is free but what came with this tour was so much more than we bargained for. She even gave us a little gift when we left and luckily we knew ahead of time that they don’t accept monetary gifts so we had brought gifts of Southern orange flavored pecans from Florida and a small turtle magnet to give her in exchange. I think we amazed her when we both exchanged our tokens of appreciation. Thank you Mayumi for sharing your knowledge of this wonderful culture and people with us. We hope to offer the same hospitality to her if and when she visits NW Florida. FYI, if being on the auction floor is important for you to experience make sure you enter the lottery auction months ahead of time because only 50 people a day are chosen. However, being on the second floor gave us a good overall view of the entire system without the chaos and noise on the auction floor. These people are working and you need to be able to maneuver out of their way because this is serious business and not a tourist activity. If we come again we will enter the lottery for this experience but as a first timer we were satisfied with what we saw especially since Mayumi was there to explain every part of what was happening. Thank you for an excellent guide and very worthwhile tour.