The auction · Toyosu · verified 2 August 2026

Tsukiji tuna auction? It moved. Here's how to actually see it.

The auction left Tsukiji in October 2018 and runs every trading morning at Toyosu, 2.5 km east. The internet still sells the old address. This page is the current mechanics: the free walkway that most people should use, the 100-a-day lottery deck, the 5 a.m. transport puzzle, and what auction tours can and cannot legally sell you.

Verified 2 Aug 2026  ·  every rule below cites an official Tokyo source · we earn a commission on tour bookings — how we pick them

¥0
Walkway, no cap
100
Lottery deck / day
5:30
Auction peak a.m.
251
Auction days 2026
¥510M
2026 record tuna

TL;DR

  • The free 2F walkway is the plan, not the fallback. Tokyo's official FAQ says there is no limit on walkway numbers — open from 05:00, no booking, glass-side view of the whole floor.
  • The lottery deck is a bonus: 100 people a day, groups of ≤5, apply ~a month ahead, photo ID for everyone. Lose the draw and you've lost nothing — the walkway still works.
  • Transport is the real gatekeeper. The Shimbashi Yurikamome starts too late (05:45). Toyosu station's 05:15 first train or the 05:02 trading-day bus are the moves — details in chapter 06.
Toyosu tuna auction 2026 briefing card: the 510.3 million yen hatsuseri record for a 243 kg Oma bluefin, the October 2018 move from Tsukiji, 251 trading days, and the 100-person lottery cap
The whole picture on one card — record, location, calendar, cap.

Three myths this page exists to kill

“Watch the tuna auction at Tsukiji fish market”

Moved in 2018. The auction runs at Toyosu Market. Tsukiji's outer market stayed — go there for food, not the auction.

“There is no lottery in December”

Wrong — and it's a tour listing's own small print saying it. The December lottery runs (apply early November). The real rule: no applications for 25 Dec–5 Jan, which is why the famous 5 January first auction is walkway-only.

“Viewing is 3 groups of 40, ten minutes each”

Superseded years ago. The current official application PDF says 100 people per day in groups of up to five, window 05:45–06:25. Sites quoting 120 are reciting 2018 press releases.

The two ways in, compared

Toyosu Market wholesale building exterior where the tuna auction runs
Option 1 · default

The free 2F walkway

From 05:00, no booking, officially uncapped. Glass-side view over the whole auction floor; the hand-signal bidding reads clearly from above. Climate-controlled — no special clothing.
Walkway
¥0

and no cap on numbers — Tokyo's own FAQ

Deck
100/day

lottery places, groups of ≤5, near-freezing floor level

Rows of frozen tuna laid out for auction at Toyosu fish market
Option 2 · the bonus

The lottery observation deck

Floor level, auction-side, the fish an arm's length away. Free — but you apply about a month out and win one of 100 daily places. Mechanics in chapter 05.

Two smaller truths worth knowing: the assembly point for deck winners is the PR Corner — used at 05:30 even though its published hours start at 08:30 (a trap if you check the hours and panic), and two cafés inside the market open at 04:00 (Iwata and Senriken) — the sanctioned way to kill the pre-auction hour. The sushi breakfast comes after, not before.

The auction morning, minute by minute

  1. 04:00Iwata and Senriken open inside the market — coffee and toast at wholesale-worker prices.
  2. 05:002F observation walkway opens; buyers inspect tail-cut tuna on the chilled floor below.
  3. 05:15First train leaves Toyosu station; Shijō-mae 05:18. Deck winners head to the PR Corner assembly.
  4. 05:30Bells ring; auctioneers start the rapid-fire chants. Deck window runs 05:45–06:25.
  5. 06:30Auction winds down; turret carts stream the tuna to the intermediate wholesalers.
  6. 07:00Restaurant queues form — Sushi Dai's storefront slot system has been running since 05:00.
  7. 09:00Done by nine — which is exactly when Tsukiji's outer market hits its stride, 2.5 km west. Do both in one morning.
Toyosu tuna auction morning timeline from 04:00 cafes through the 05:30-06:25 auction action to the 09:00 crossing to Tsukiji outer market
The dawn chronology as one card — same clock as above, pocket format.

The lottery, mechanically

The application portal runs on a fixed monthly rhythm. From the official FY2026 schedule (published only as an image — we transcribed it):

Visit monthApply (opens 15:00)Results
September 20265 → 12 AugThu 20 Aug, 18:00
October 20262 → 8 SepThu 17 Sep, 18:00
November 20267 → 13 OctThu 22 Oct, 18:00
December 20264 → 10 Nov Thu 19 Nov, 18:00

Agencies can't apply for you. The official FAQ answers this question directly: the programme presumes direct application by participants, and the terms prohibit reselling or transferring viewing rights. That's the legal floor under everything in chapter 07.

Toyosu tuna auction lottery application flow: window opens 15:00 about a month ahead, results the following Thursday at 18:00, 100 winners per day in groups of up to five with photo ID
The lottery rhythm and its four constraints — dates for your month are in the table above.

Getting there before dawn (the real gatekeeper)

The auction's hardest problem isn't tickets — it's that most of Tokyo's transit wakes up after it starts.

OptionFirst arrival at the marketThe catch
Yurikamome from Toyosu stn05:18 (dep. 05:15, ¥190)You must start from Toyosu — stay nearby or taxi to the station
Toei bus from Shimbashi~05:10 (dep. 05:02 express)Runs on trading days incl. Saturdays; no ordinary-Sunday service; closed-day first bus is later and short-turns
Yurikamome from Shimbashitoo late — first dep. 05:45The classic mistake; you arrive as the chants end
Taxi from Ginza/Tsukijiany time (~¥2,500–3,500)The reliable answer for groups; ~15 min at that hour
Sleep in Toyosu / Ariakewalk or one stopThe stress-free answer — and the onsen at Senkyaku Banrai opens for morning bathing

Full line-by-line detail, IC fares and the Tsukiji↔Toyosu transfer: getting there.

Auction tours, honestly

Since no operator can sell deck access, what does a paid "tuna auction tour" actually sell? Three legitimate things: a guide on the free walkway who can read the hand signals and hierarchy for you, the solved 5 a.m. logistics, and breakfast with a queue strategy. That's real value at dawn in an unfamiliar wholesale district — just know it's what you're buying. The full comparison lives on the tuna auction tour page; the short version:

Tour data captured 2 Aug 2026 — prices drift; the booking page is the truth.

FAQ

No — it moved to Toyosu in October 2018. Tsukiji's outer market stayed, and it's still the better breakfast; they pair perfectly in one morning.

Not for the 2F walkway — free, unbooked, officially uncapped, from 05:00. Only the floor-level deck needs the monthly lottery win.

Online, roughly a month out: the window opens at 15:00 around the first Wednesday of the preceding month and runs about a week; results the following Thursday at 18:00. 100/day, groups of ≤5, photo ID everyone, screenshot the winning email.

No — the rules bar agency applications and resale of viewing rights. Tours sell the walkway + logistics + breakfast, which is legitimate; guaranteed-deck claims are not. Full honest breakdown: tuna auction tours.

On site ~05:15–05:30; the action peaks 05:30–06:30. Transport is the constraint — see getting there for the 05:02 bus and 05:15 train that make it possible.

Only from the free walkway — the deck lottery takes no applications for 25 Dec–5 Jan. The 2026 hatsuseri set the all-time record: ¥510.3 million for a 243 kg Ôma bluefin.

Every Toyosu opening day — 251 in 2026. Closed Sundays, holidays and most Wednesdays, on Toyosu's own calendar, which is not the same as Tsukiji's.

Different things: the auction is theatre and requires the dawn; Tsukiji is the eating. If you'd rather sleep, skip the auction guilt-free — the outer market alone is a full morning. If you go, do both: auction 05:30, Tsukiji by 09:00.

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