Fish Market
The famous Tsukiji fish market moved to Toyosu in 2019, prompted by Tsukiji's aging facilities. While the wholesale (“inner”) market relocated, Tsukiji’s outer market remains a bustling hub with stalls selling grilled seafood, kitchenware, sushi, and more. Tsukiji is a popular destination, so expect to be shoulder-to-shoulder with throngs of tourists from breakfast through the lunch rush. If you would like to eat at your favorite sushi counter, go early (before 9 am) or be prepared to wait. Many of the places with the longest queues are often the ones featured on guides or influencer feeds; these places are great, but not necessarily better than their unsung neighbors. Most stalls have fresh seafood, and there is much to discover on your own. Many of the shops still have hours according to the previous fish market schedule (closing on Sundays, public holidays, and many Wednesdays). However, these might be the best times to bypass the crowds, as a few shops may still be open.
Tsukiji Market Highlights
Tsukiji Itadori Bekkan stands out for sushi due to its access to the freshest seafood and the expertise of its chefs. Sometimes they will have really good oysters, too. Adjacent is its sister restaurant Tsukiji Itadori Uni Tora also excellent and offers five different varieties of sea urchin. However, it is perpetually mobbed, and the best chance to get in these days may be around 3:30 pm right before it closes.
Tsukiji Peppers Cafe is a hidden gem, a quiet haven from the crush of hungry tourists. Sit on one of the stools/crates and have a coffee, butterfly lemonade, hot cola, and if you wanna, add a shot of whisky into any of the above. They have eggcellent toasts, pizza (handmade crust), Sri Lankan curry (pre order), a many other “peppertizers”. The mandate of the cafe is to showcase spices. Tetsu, the personable polyglot proprietor, is always happy to demonstrate the eye-opening delights of preserved black pepper.
Masa. In the stall next to the Peppers Cafe, the chef was inspired by his experience in NYC, and makes great fish burgers: classic cod burger (crispy fish filet with lettuce and cheese, while the shimesaba burger (mackerel, tamagoyaki, shiso, and cucumber).
Yonemoto Coffee. Cozy place to stop after lunch, get a coffee and a soft cream. This coffee shop was once a favorite of John Lennon, and it offers a “John Lennon Returns” set.
Tuna Auctions in Toyosu (+ Edo-Era-Style Village)
For those who still want to see early morning tuna auctions, you can still do that in Toyosu, viewable from a special observation deck, requires advance booking and is limited to 27 people.
Toyosu’s village Senkyaku Banrai, across from the Toyosu fish market, replicates a market from Edo times: wood beams, lanterns, that slow-show kind of charm. There are 65 places to eat or buy things, mostly fresh from the market across the street. They even piped in hot spring water from Yugawara and Hakone for the onsen. Planned for a 2018 open, people weren’t into it, then COVID came, and everything got quiet. From all accounts, it is bustling, the food is good and worth visiting.
Tsukiji Cooking Experience
Make your own sushi and washoku (Japanese dishes). The tour starts with a walk to the fish market and selection of fresh ingredients. The cooking school guide will have special relationships with certain vendors so choice cuts of fish will be set aside for the cooking course. The class also teaches you how to make dishes other than sushi, such as tonkatsu, japanese omelets, soup, Tsukiji Cooking
Cooking Lessons, Food Tours (TBD)
Buy Kitchen Supplies
On Kappabashi Dougu Street, there is everything a cook could need. More than 170 shops offer bakery tools, tableware, china, and lacquer. There are also plastic food models, chefs' coats, signs, noren curtains, and bamboo goods. It is the longest street of kitchen stores in Japan.
Highlights on Kappabashi Kitchen street
Start Dengama (ceramics of all sort), Kanaya Brush (Long-established speciality shop offering brushes for cleaning, calligraphy, cosmetics & more), Majimaya (Bakery equipment), Kama-Asa (elegant store specializing in handcrafted kitchen knives, pans, woks & steamers), Tousyougama
(homeware, dishes, utensils), CAFE / Sensing Touch of Earth (stop for good coffee), Kamata (traditionally handcrafted knives & sharpening class), Hashitou (specialty chopstick store), Kakesu Zakka-ten (modern teaware), Tsuchi-ya (glassware), Kikyoya (customized lanterns & signs), Utsuwa Zoshi (wooden tableware). Full map of the street here.
Farmers Markets, Specialty Shops
Every weekend, a small and earnest sprawl of tents appears in front of the UN University in Aoyama. You’ll find local produce, handmade sauces, things in jars. Break Pepper is a favorite. It runs 10 to 4, Saturday and Sunday, and the farmers are generous with both samples and opinions. Often there will be food trucks and events.
Elsewhere in the city, places to go where home cooks can stock up the pantry:
Akomeya (Kagurazaka): Gorgeous rice, shelves are lined with luxuries: fried bonito, soy sauces, and kitchen tools you didn’t know you needed.
Kayanoya Dashi (Akasaka Midtown): Dashi for every purpose, packaged like perfume, smells like umami in slow motion
Dashi Okume: dried fish and kelp, ou can mix your own blend, no ceremony required—just good stock, made simple.
Ninben Nihonbashi purveyor of high-quality katsuobushi for over three centuries
Sano Miso (Kameido) barrels of miso for the tasting, 70 varieties await, from pale and sweet to dark and intense, each with a story steeped in regional tradition
Yagenbori, small spice shop in Asakusa that’s been blending shichimi for centuries
Tofu Ukai: tofu restaurant, but you can buy yuba and tofu in its adjacent shop
Ōtaya Tofu a variety of tofu products, including fresh tofu, okara, croquettes, and deep-fried tofu.
Azabu Sennen Koujiya, fermented foods and sake from Niigata's Hakkaisan Brewery, plus miso, pickles, and amazake, a small counter invites patrons to sample.
Kisaburō Nōjō an place for the ultimate tamakake gohan experience. The eggs come from farms across Japan—each one with a name, a breed, a backstory. You can purchase these eggs plus specialty TKG soy sauce
Kawamuraya traditional tsukemono shop since the Edo period, specialty, bettara-zuke—a sweet and salty pickled daikon radish.
Ginza Yamau, over 50 varieties of tsukemono line the shelves, each jar capturing a different region's flavor and season
Shokunin, over a hundred varieties of shoyu, each made with quiet obsession. The bottles are arranged like rare books, staff will guide you with the seriousness of sommeliers. This shop may be closed temporarily.