Father daughter trip to Japan - Yumi was fantastic. Very prompt, professional and yet flexible... well worth getting uo at 4 am ...thus was one of the best tours we went on....

A worthwhile experience - It was an eye opener to see the size and number of bluefin tuna on auction. It was also fun to learn about the auctioning process. You will have a deeper appreciation of the next piece of tuna sashimi you eat. Our guide Tomoko was fantastic! She was knowledgeable and handy with tips on best lunch options at Tsukiji market.

Great cultural experience with Mayumi Hatano - Mayumi Hatano was an incredible guide. It was like taking a tour of cultural Japan without going all over the city. Her knowledge of the workings of the fish auction was the tip of the iceberg. Every time she said anything it opened up new questions which involved so much history about Japan, its people, its beliefs, its culture, etc. there was not one question we asked her that she couldn’t answer from knives, to when the strawberries were in season, to which tuna is the best and in what waters they come from and when they were in season even information on how the Japanese are self regulating their intake of bluefin tuna since they are over fishing it now. She took us to the best sushi restaurant that only the auction people eat and knew many of the vendors in many of the stalls. She showed us the best places to buy tea and where to eat in the market although we were so full from a sushi breakfast at 6:37 am which was way cheaper than the stalls in the the outer market. We had an incredible history of where the original market was and why it was there and the canals that were built to lead the fresh fish from the harbor right to Edo castle for the shogun and eventually the Imperial family. At the end she took us to the subway station and showed us how to purchase our tickets and maneuver the sub system. She connected with us early through What’s App and even told us to leave earlier to get a good place to view the auction action. She took us to a Shinto shrine explaining the difference between the two religions (Buddhist/Shinto) and why both were important to the Japanese. It was an amazing 3-4 hour journey through Japan when all we wanted to see was the fish auction and outer market. I understand why some may find it expensive because yes, the auction is free but what came with this tour was so much more than we bargained for. She even gave us a little gift when we left and luckily we knew ahead of time that they don’t accept monetary gifts so we had brought gifts of Southern orange flavored pecans from Florida and a small turtle magnet to give her in exchange. I think we amazed her when we both exchanged our tokens of appreciation. Thank you Mayumi for sharing your knowledge of this wonderful culture and people with us. We hope to offer the same hospitality to her if and when she visits NW Florida. FYI, if being on the auction floor is important for you to experience make sure you enter the lottery auction months ahead of time because only 50 people a day are chosen. However, being on the second floor gave us a good overall view of the entire system without the chaos and noise on the auction floor. These people are working and you need to be able to maneuver out of their way because this is serious business and not a tourist activity. If we come again we will enter the lottery for this experience but as a first timer we were satisfied with what we saw especially since Mayumi was there to explain every part of what was happening. Thank you for an excellent guide and very worthwhile tour.

I have been wanting to... - I have been wanting to experience the tuna auctions for years and Mayumi was a wonderful guide to take us through it. She reached out days before the experience made sure that we were prepared and set up our logistics in order to get us there on time. It was such an interesting unique experience to be able to see. Then we got to walk through the markets which were amazing and she helped in getting a custom chef’s knife made, and shipped to us in the US. I loved this experience and wholeheartedly, recommend it.

Unforgettable Experience at the Toyosu Tuna Auction and fish market - We really enjoyed our tour of the Fish Market and Tuna Auction. Booking and paying on-line is always risky but Tripadvisor and our personal guide, Yoko, kept in contact with us. Everything was planned for us by Yoko. Yoko was friendly and extremely knowledgeable and informative explaining much of the process. Yoko has excellent English which made our understanding of the experience so much better as there was no barrier at all especially as we strolled around the market where she interpreted the signage for us. We would certainly have Yoko as our guide again.

Unique and fun Tour of Toyosu and Tsukiji Market / Auction - This tour was so much fun! Yumi make our day by being not just an excellent source of information, but also by going above and beyond to help us. The tour started with great communication where she laid out options for arriving for this early tour. She messaged while we were in route to ensure we got to the appropriate meeting spot. She helped us get a great view of the auction and explained the entire process. After the auction, she helped find us some amazing quality "breakfast" sushi. It was the best I have ever had! After breakfast, we took a bus together to the old market. She helped us purchase some souvenirs and walked us though the tax free process. We enjoyed spending our morning with Yumi. She loves her job and it shows!

Worth getting up so early! - There was a bit of a mix up in terms of meeting spot but another guide stepped in and helped! Excellent information and such insight!

Terrific Tuna Time - Our tour guide Sachiyo was wonderful! She was so sweet and knowledgeable. It was an early morning tour but so worth it! We were very happy that we won the lottery and were able to go to the lower floor to watch the auction. She took us to a sushi restaurant for breakfast and it was the best sushi I’ve ever had! I highly recommend this tour!!!

Great morning - unique experience - We had a great guide and were able to see a very unique market and tuna auction. Learned a lot. Great for adults and children.

The real tuna auction at Toyosu. - This was a very interesting tour despite the early start. We knew that we had to be at the auction house before 0500hrs. Our guide, Nobby, was most informative and had an excellent approach and replies to all our questions. We were in the level 2 observation area (level 1 in Japan is the ground floor). Good view but we needed the explanation of the process and Nobby outlined this most clearly. His command of English was very good. Tuna auctioning in Japan is very regulated and at this auction one is observing the auction between the wholesalers (7) and the intermediaries (several hundred). Its a very fast process as each fish is auctioned separately by quality and weight and it takes less than 10 secs per fish. The auction goes from 0530 to 0630 hrs. Once completed we walked across the road to another huge building in which the intermediaries auction/sell their tuna to the retail outlets and restaurants. One does not see this process but there is viewing from above, down onto their specific areas. The tuna knives are most impressive and very expensive. Prices per kilogram of tuna go up very steeply. We then went to the older Tuskiji Outer Market, a more traditional market with hundreds of small food outlets and craft and tourist stalls/shops. The price for good quality tuna at some places was 2500 Yen per 100gm (25000 Yen per kilogram). This gave a good idea of the value of tuna. Can can be even more expensive in restaurants. We enjoyed the whole experience but the actual auction was the best, seeing the real working activity of tuna management first hand. This is the biggest tuna auction in the world and is run at least 5 days a week. Very worthwhile.