Toyosu Market Tour and Chef's Omakase Lunch

Toyosu is where Tokyo's wholesale fish market has worked since 2018, when it moved from Tsukiji. Most visitors see it from a viewing gallery. This tour is built for people who want more than that: a private visit for two or three guests, led by a professional sushi master, with access to areas that are normally closed to the public. GetYourGuide's Tokyo listing showed US$224 per person in October 2026.

The point of walking the market with a chef is to learn what he looks at. The chef explains how fish is judged for freshness and quality, and how the habits of the trade shape the sushi you will eat later. The listing stresses that this is a different kind of visit from the usual walk through the market.

After the market, you travel by private transport to a sushi restaurant near Nagatacho Station, inside a luxury hotel according to the inclusions list. Your guide becomes your chef, and the omakase lunch is prepared by the person who walked the market with you. One alcoholic drink is included; further drinks are paid for separately. Your guide takes photographs during the tour and sends them digitally, and a short video of the day follows afterwards. Guides speak English and Japanese.

The tour runs for about three and a half hours and is offered on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, according to the description. Meet at Shijo-mae Station on the Yurikamome line. The listing also lists transport to and from your hotel among its inclusions, so confirm at booking which pickup applies to you.

Toyosu Market opened in October 2018 and took over from the Tsukiji inner market, which had served the city for more than eighty years. The Yurikamome line is an automated elevated train that runs from Shimbashi along Tokyo Bay, and Shijo-mae is its stop beside the market, which is why the tour starts there. The new market is a modern, enclosed building, with temperature control to protect the fish, which is a big change from the open sheds of Tsukiji. It is one of the largest fish markets in the world, with a wide range of fish and shellfish handled by specialist wholesalers.

What most visitors miss is how a sushi chef reads a fish. He looks at the colour and clarity of the eye and the flesh, feels the firmness, checks how it was handled and considers the season and the origin. A good chef also knows how long a fish should rest before it tastes its best, because some are better a few days after being caught. Seeing him choose, and hearing his reasons, makes the later meal more meaningful. Tuna is the market's best-known product, and the differences between lean, medium-fat and fatty cuts become clear when you see them side by side.

A market is a working place, so there are rules. Wear closed shoes with grip, because floors are wet, and be ready to move out of the way of the small motorised carts that carry fish. Do not touch the fish or the equipment, and keep your voice low. Check the start time and the train times from your hotel when you book, and keep in mind that the tour runs on only four days of the week and that the market has its own closing days.

Wear warm layers, because the market is kept cool and the floors can be damp, and bring a light bag rather than a large backpack, since space is tight between the stalls and the carts. If you are interested in the tuna, ask the chef to explain the differences between the cuts you will eat at lunch. The lunch itself is the reward for an early morning, so arrive hungry but not ravenous. Keep the schedule loose for the afternoon, because a drink and a long lunch can make a nap appealing.

Think of the day as a lesson with a meal at the end. The market gives you the vocabulary, such as the names of the fish, the cuts of tuna and the signs of freshness, and the lunch lets you taste what you have learned. Ask the chef how he chooses a supplier, how long a fish rests before it is served and which seasonal fish are at their best on your date. Take notes if you like, and keep the photographs the guide sends as a record of the day.

A few conditions matter. The tour is not suitable for people with food allergies, and guests with severe allergies to seafood, buckwheat or nuts may need to skip parts of the meal. The operator may not be able to accept short-notice bookings, and if it cannot confirm yours it cancels at no charge with a full refund. It is run by EYT Japan, and the operator asks for at least ten days' notice where possible.