One day · Tsukiji and Toyosu

Tsukiji at dawn to Toyosu by night: a morning service, sushi for breakfast, the market with a guide, a bath over the bay and teamLab in the dark

Published 2026-09-26 · Season: any · Who it is for: Early risers who want the food story of Tokyo told in order, from the fish to the art

The fish market moved from Tsukiji to Toyosu in 2018, and the two halves now tell one story: the old outer market where the shops stayed, and the new island where the auctions went. This day follows the fish east. Book the guided walk and teamLab; the temple, the breakfast and the bath take whoever turns up.

Map of central Tokyo Imperial Palace Ueno Park Meiji Jingu Sumida River Tokyo Ueno Akihabara Shinjuku Shibuya Shinagawa Ikebukuro Shimbashi Ginza Marunouchi Nihonbashi Asakusa Ueno · Yanaka Akihabara · Kanda Roppongi Aoyama Harajuku Shibuya Shinjuku Tsukiji · Toyosu Daikanyama · Ebisu Kagurazaka Ryogoku Kabukiza Theatre Chuo-dori and the Sunday promenade Ginza Six Ginza Itoya Hama-rikyu Gardens The Ginza gallery walk Tsukiji Hongwanji The Ginza bar streets Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building Imperial Palace East Gardens Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum Marunouchi Naka-dori KITTE and the rooftop garden Idemitsu Museum of Arts Nihonbashi Bridge Mitsukoshi Nihombashi Main Store The old shops of Nihonbashi Artizon Museum Fukutoku Shrine and the Coredo lanes Nihonbashi river cruise Sensoji Temple Kappabashi kitchen street Sumida river water bus The craft and coffee streets west of the temple A kimono day in Asakusa Tokyo Skytree Asakusa Shrine and Sanja Matsuri Tokyo National Museum National Museum of Western Art Ueno Park and Shinobazu Pond Yanaka Ginza and the Yanesen lanes Nezu Shrine Ameyoko market street Asakura Museum of Sculpture Akihabara Electric Town Jimbocho book town Kanda Myojin Shrine Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Nikolai-do) Kanda's old noodle houses Yushima Seido and the Confucian hall Mori Art Museum and Tokyo City View The National Art Center, Tokyo Tokyo Midtown and the Suntory Museum of Art Azabu-Juban shopping street Tokyo Tower and Zojoji Temple Roppongi after dark Nezu Museum The Omotesando architecture walk Aoyama Cemetery Meiji Jingu Gaien ginkgo avenue The Aoyama and Minami-Aoyama back streets Meiji Jingu Yoyogi Park Takeshita Street and Cat Street Ota Memorial Museum of Art Togo Shrine Shibuya scramble crossing and Hachiko Shibuya Sky Nonbei Yokocho and the Shibuya alleys Udagawacho record shops and Shibuya vintage Tomigaya and Kamiyamacho Live music in Shibuya Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observatories Golden Gai Omoide Yokocho The Isetan food hall Hanazono Shrine Tsukiji Outer Market Toyosu Market and the tuna auction teamLab Planets The Tsukiji-to-Ginza walk The Meguro River cherry trees Daikanyama T-Site Daikanyama's low-rise streets Ebisu Garden Place and the Ebisu restaurant streets Nakameguro's back streets Kagurazaka's stone lanes Akagi Shrine Dining in Kagurazaka Zenkokuji Bishamonten Ryogoku Kokugikan and sumo Edo-Tokyo Museum Kiyosumi Garden Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) The Kiyosumi-Shirakawa roasters
A hand-drawn sketch for orientation — each place links to an exact map.

The day

  1. 06:30

    Sutras under a stone dome

    Tsukiji Hongwanji is a Buddhist temple built like an Indian stupa, with a pipe organ inside. Its morning service is open to anyone: sit at the back, listen to the chanting, and leave when the monks do. No ticket, no photography during the service.

    Tsukiji Hongwanji Morning Service →

  2. 07:30

    Sushi before eight

    Breakfast is sushi because this is where sushi eats breakfast. The outer market's counters open early; Sushi Dai's Tsukiji house and Sushi Zanmai's original shop are the two we have verified. Sit at the counter, order the set, and finish with the tamago.

    Tsukiji Sushi Dai Honkan →

  3. 09:00

    The outer market with someone who buys here

    Tsukiji's outer market is four hundred shops in a grid, and it makes sense with a guide who shops here: which knife shop sharpens, which stall's tamago the chefs buy, where the dried bonito is shaved to order. Tokyo Localized and Japan Wonder Travel both run morning walks; the tour ends with tastings you would never have found.

    Tokyo Localized Tsukiji Fish Market Food Tour →

  4. 11:30

    Steel on the corner

    Tsukiji Masamoto is the knife shop the chefs come to, on a corner of the outer market since the 1930s. If you cook, this is where a single good knife is chosen for your hand and engraved while you wait. If you do not, watch someone who does.

    Tsukiji Masamoto →

  5. 13:00

    Across to the new market

    The Yurikamome monorail takes you over the bay to Toyosu. The tuna auction happened at dawn, but the observation corridors are open and the wholesale floor is still moving; the fruit and vegetable building is the quiet one. Late lunch at the Senkyaku Banrai food hall next door.

    Toyosu Market and the tuna auction →

  6. 15:30

    A bath over the bay

    Toyosu Manyo Club is a hot-spring complex on top of the market's food hall, with an open-air bath on the roof that looks across the water to the city. Water is trucked from Hakone and Yugawara. Two hours here, in a yukata, is how the day's early start is repaid.

    Tokyo Toyosu Manyo Club →

  7. 18:30

    teamLab, after dark

    teamLab Planets is a walk through water and light, barefoot, ten minutes from the bath. Book the last evening slot: the queues are shorter, the rooms darker, and you walk out onto a quiet island with the city lit across the water. Dinner back in town; the Yurakucho line is fifteen minutes.

    teamLab Planets TOKYO →

A temple, a counter, a market, a knife, a bath and a room full of water: the day the fish takes when it arrives in Tokyo, followed at a human pace.

Before you go

  • The outer market is busiest from nine; the counters queue from seven. Eat first, walk second.
  • Toyosu's wholesale floors close early afternoon; check the market's calendar for closed days.
  • Manyo Club and teamLab both refuse visible tattoos in some areas; check the policies before you rely on them.

Areas: Tsukiji & Toyosu

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