Tsukiji Outer Market Hours 2026: 9am-2pm, Closing Days, Best Day to Go

Tsukiji Outer Market (築地場外市場) has no closing day. Not one that the market itself sets, anyway. Miss that distinction and you can spend a morning walking past shutters.

You'll see "closed Sundays and Wednesdays" repeated all over the internet. It's not quite right. Plenty of shops do close on those days, and plenty of others stay open on exactly the same day.

If you've got a choice of day, pick a Saturday. Between July and December 2026, the only Saturday the wholesale market closes is August 15, during Obon, the mid-August period when much of Japan travels.

The shops sell fresh fish and dried goods; the restaurants do sushi and seafood rice bowls. For both, the useful window is 9am to 2pm. After 2pm, whether a shop stays open is entirely up to that shop.

The visitor window: 9am to 2pm

The market's official site splits the day into three blocks.

The first of the market's official "8 Rules of Tsukiji" says the same thing: "Mornings are priority time for buyers. Until 9am, professional buyers come first." Before 9am the lanes belong to people restocking restaurants, so build your visit around those five hours.

After 2pm the official wording is "free operating hours." Each shop decides, and the market publishes no closing time. Arrive well into the afternoon and the place you came for may already be shut.

Official site:

Closing days: set by each shop, not the market

The official site does publish a calendar. It's not the outer market's own calendar, though.

It shows the closing schedule of the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market (東京都中央卸売市場). Those closed days are called kyuushibi (休市日). Underneath the calendar, the market adds its own note:

"This is the closing-day calendar of the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market. Some shops in the outer market are also closed. Please check directly with each shop for its opening days."

Most outer market shops close when the wholesale market closes, because that's where their stock comes from. The wording on the official homepage is that "many shops in Tsukiji Outer Market are also closed" on those days, which is not the same as everything being shut.

That gap is where visits go wrong. Some shops trade on closing days, and some shops close on trading days for their own reasons.

If you have one particular shop in mind, check its hours on the official shop directory:

To ask in person, there's an information center called Plat Tsukiji (ぷらっと築地). It opens 8am to 2pm on weekdays and Saturdays, and 10am to 2pm on Sundays, public holidays and market closing days. It shuts over the year-end and New Year holidays.

Market closing days, July to December 2026

Closing days fall on Sundays, public holidays, and certain designated Wednesdays, plus the Obon and year-end periods. The number of closed Wednesdays changes month to month. Every Wednesday in July is a closing day, while August has only one Wednesday that stays open, the 12th.

The list below covers July to December from the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market 2026 calendar, seafood division. I've left the July dates that have already passed in the table for reference.

These are not the outer market's own closing days. Treat them as the days when most shops close.

December 31 appears here as a closing day, but the outer market handles it differently each year. See "Late December: a separate set of rules" below.

A few 2026 dates break the usual pattern. September 23 (a Wednesday public holiday) and December 27 (a Sunday) both look like closures if you go by the day of the week, but both are trading days.

If you're choosing by day of the week, Saturday is the safe pick. The only Saturday closure between July and December 2026 is August 15. Every other Saturday is a trading day.

This table follows the seafood division. On October 14, November 4, November 25 and December 30, only the seafood division trades and the produce division is closed. On those four dates, produce sellers are more likely to be shut than the fish stalls.

December 30 needs a second look. In 2025 it fell inside the year-end buying period, and the market announces those dates fresh each season. See the next section.

The 2027 calendar hasn't been published yet. If your trip crosses into next year, check the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's calendar page once it's up.

Source: Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, 2026 opening and closing day calendar

Late December: a separate set of rules

Late December is when Tsukiji stops behaving like the calendar says. The market publishes a year-end shopping notice each season. The 2025 notice described December 25 to 30 as the peak buying period and said shops open from around 6am.

The same notice covered December 31: "a free operating day. Some shops will be closed or on shortened hours." So while the Tokyo calendar marks it as a closing day, that doesn't mean the outer market shuts down.

That notice was written for the end of 2025. Year-end hours are announced season by season, so check the current year's notice before planning a late-December visit.

Tsukiji Uogashi, the city-run building covered in the next section, describes its closures as following the wholesale market "as a rule," and Plat Tsukiji lists its closed period only as "year-end and New Year."

Neither tells you which specific days are affected, which is why the annual notice matters.

If you want to avoid the crush, go before the year-end buying period gets going.

Tsukiji Uogashi: visitors from 9am

Walk the lanes long enough and you reach a building called Tsukiji Uogashi (築地魚河岸). It's not part of the shopping street. Chuo City built it. The Chuo City Urban Development Public Corporation runs it, and around 60 retail shops backed by wholesale operators trade inside.

There are two buildings, Odawarabashi (小田原橋棟) and Kaikobashi (海幸橋棟). The first floor is fish and produce, and the second is offices and storage.

The third floor of Odawarabashi holds the Uogashi Shokudo (魚河岸食堂) food hall and an event space, with a rooftop plaza above.

The hours work differently from the lanes outside.

On closures the official site says "closed on Sundays, public holidays and designated Wednesdays." Treat Sundays and holidays as closed regardless of whether the wholesale market is trading.

The official line on timing is direct: "We recommend that general visitors and tourists come after 9am." If you do turn up before nine, stay out of the walkways.

The 7am to 2pm figure is the building's own summary. The shop directory lists tenants that open at 10am, so not everything is trading at 7am.

Official site:

Uogashi Shokudo: six restaurants, six closing times

The food hall on the third floor of the Odawarabashi building is listed as open 7am to 7pm, last orders 6pm. That's the outer envelope. The six restaurants inside keep their own hours.

That last column trips people up. Four of the six shut on Sundays and public holidays on top of market closing days.

The building matters more, though. Tsukiji Uogashi houses the food hall and closes on Sundays and public holidays, so on those days none of the six are reachable, even when the wholesale market is trading.

September 23 and December 27, the two trading days flagged earlier, are exactly that case. The outer market lanes run as normal, but this building is out.

One caveat before you plan a late meal: the building is listed as open only until 3pm, and there's no published word on how to get up to the third floor after that. Call ahead if you're aiming for an evening visit.

All six are open together only between 10am and 3pm. At 3pm, Senriken, Odayasu and Tekkaya close. Tsukiji Yabusoba and Toto Grill run to 6pm, and Toritou alone stays open until 7pm.

Saturdays change the back end of that: Toto Grill closes at 3pm too, leaving Tsukiji Yabusoba and Toritou as the only two open after three.

Tekkaya closes when it sells out, so it can finish earlier than the listed time. If you want the choice of all six, be inside by 2pm.

Official site:

Tsukiji vs. Toyosu

Toyosu Market (豊洲市場) opened on October 11, 2018. What moved out of Tsukiji was the wholesale operation, the trading floor where the tuna auctions happened.

The outer market didn't move. It's still in Tsukiji, still run from a Tsukiji address. "Tsukiji Market is gone" mixes up the wholesale market with the shopping street that carries its name.

Go to Toyosu for the market complex and the visitor facilities built around it. Come to Tsukiji for lanes of shops and places to eat.

If the auctions are what had you considering Toyosu, there are two ways to see them. The second-floor viewing walkway is free, needs no booking, and is open from 5am to 5pm, so you can simply turn up. The bidding itself runs from about 5:30am to 6:30am on trading days.

The close-up viewing deck takes planning. It runs on an advance online lottery rather than first-come-first-served, with a 5:45am to 6:25am slot. It's free too.

One catch, though. The closing-day table above belongs to the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, and Toyosu Market is part of that same system.

Toyosu closes on the days Tsukiji's shops close. Switching from one to the other on a closing day doesn't work.

Toyosu Senkyakubanrai: open on closing days

If a closing day is the only day you have, Toyosu Senkyakubanrai (豊洲 千客万来) is the alternative. It sits next to Toyosu Market, with dining and retail alongside a hot spring complex, Tokyo Toyosu Manyo Club (東京豊洲 万葉倶楽部). Because it's a separate facility from the market, it trades on closing days.

The facility runs year-round, but individual shops may set their own closures and hours.

Official site: Toyosu Senkyakubanrai

The 8 Rules of Tsukiji

The official site lists eight rules for visitors.

Mornings are priority time for buyers. Until 9am, professional buyers come first. If you see someone shopping for their business, stay out of the way

Eat inside the shop or in front of it. Eating as you walk blocks the lanes, so please eat inside or in the designated spots

Check your bags. Suitcases block the lanes, so use a coin locker. Strollers can be left at the Plat Tsukiji information center

Move in small groups. The lanes are narrow and the shops are small, so avoid large groups. Keep hold of children's hands

Ask before you shoot. Check with the shop before photographing. Shops that do not allow it post a notice

Do not touch the food. It is stock for sale, and handling or pressing it lowers its value

Do not haggle. Goods are selected and sold at wholesale prices, and bargaining is not part of how Tsukiji works

Smoke in the designated areas. Use the smoking spots, and no smoking while walking or littering

The eating rule trips up more visitors than any of the others. If you're picturing yourself wandering the lanes with skewers in hand, that's not what the market asks of you. Eat inside the shop or in the designated space in front of it.

The no-haggling rule deserves a word too. This is not a tourist bazaar. These are shops selling at wholesale prices, and there is no bargaining culture to work with.

For places to leave your bags, Where to Store Luggage in Tokyo (2026): Coin Lockers, Bag-Drop Apps & Hands-Free Sightseeing covers the options.

Official site:

Getting there

Tsukijishijo and Tsukiji are two different stations, a minute apart on different lines. Either one works.

Five minutes from Higashi-ginza puts the Kabukiza theatre and Ginza itself within walking distance, so a morning in Tsukiji and an afternoon in Ginza fit together comfortably.

Small electric carts known as turret trucks (ターレ) move stock through the lanes. Keep out of their path.

Payment methods vary from shop to shop, so carry cash. Is Japan Cash-Only? How to Pay in Japan in 2026 (Cash, IC Cards, Contactless & QR) covers the wider picture.

For how ordering works once you sit down, How to Order at a Japanese Restaurant in 2026: Ticket Machines, Otoshi & the Call Button is worth a look.

Official site:

Picking your day and time

Set your arrival between 9am and 2pm. Earlier and you're in the buyers' way; later and shops start shutting. If Uogashi Shokudo is on your list, 2pm is the practical cutoff for having all six open.

For the date, avoid the wholesale market's closing days. Some shops trade anyway, but your choices narrow sharply.

If Tsukiji Uogashi is part of the plan, rule out Sundays and public holidays too. The building closes on those days even when the wholesale market is trading, which takes the whole food hall off the table. Saturday clears both problems.

Saturday is the most reliable day of the week. If a closing day is all you have, check your target shop's hours on the official site, or switch to Toyosu Senkyakubanrai, which is open year-round.