Japan’s Tsukiji market holds final New Year auction

Tokyo’sworld-famous Tsukiji fish market held its last pre-dawn New Year’sauction yesterday before closing down for relocation, with the highestbidder paying more than $320,000 for a giant tuna.  After more than80 years in operation, the world’s biggest fish market, a populartourist attraction in an area packed with restaurants and shops, willmove to Toyosu, a former gas plant a bit further east, on October 11. Themarket, which opened in 1935, is best known for its pre-dawn dailyauctions of tuna, caught from all corners of the ocean, for use byeveryone from top Michelin-star sushi chefs to ordinary grocery stores. Beforedawn, buyers in rubber boots inspected the quality of the giant freshand frozen tunas by examining the neatly cut tail end with flashlightsand rubbing slices between their fingers. At 5:30am, auctioneers ranghandbells to signal the start of the auction and buyers began a flurryof bidding with hand signals for their preferred tunas. “We have tocontinue the Tsukiji brand and establish a new brand” at the new site,Shigeo Yokota, the representative of buyers at Tsukiji, said in his NewYear speech.  “I’m proud to be standing here at this historic moment,”he added. The highest bidder paid 36.5 million yen for a bluefin tuna — athreatened species —  weighing more than 400 kilogrammes (880 pounds)caught off northern Aomori prefecture, according to the market. “It’sthe best feeling,” Akifumi Sakagami, head chef at a sushi restaurant inthe Ginza shopping district which paid for the tuna, told AFP after thegiant fish was sliced into several pieces for delivery.  “We wanted toget the number-one tuna at the first auction of the year at Tsukiji...because this is the last New Year auction,” he said, adding that therestaurant owner had a budget of 100 million yen ($886,000). “Tsukijiis the world’s number-one fish market. It’s in a very convenientlocation. It’s sad that it will be closed down,” Sakagami said. KiyoshiKimura, known as Japan’s self-styled “Tuna King” who in 2013 paid arecord $1.8 million for a bluefin, snapped up a 190-kilogramme fish atFriday’s auction for around 30 million yen, the highest price perkilogramme. Kimura has built his successful Sushizanmai chain into anational brand by paying big money at Tsukiji’s first auction everyyear. At the first auction of 2017, he paid more than $600,000 for a212-kilo bluefin tuna.  The Tsukiji market handles 480 kinds of seafoodworth $14mn daily – as well as 270 types of fruits and vegetables – andhas fed Japan’s hunger for fresh seafood since its opening. But inrecent years the antiquated facility has prompted its users, such asseafood wholesalers, to voice concerns about its earthquake resistance,sanitation and fire safety, as well as the structure’s use of asbestosand its crumbling walls.  They have also called for upgraded technology,such as better refrigeration systems. However, the move, originallyslated for late 2016, also faced loud opposition from variousbusinesses that operate at or around the market, an extremely popularattraction located conveniently within walking distance from the Ginzadistrict. Many businesses were emotionally attached to the Tsukiji brandas well as the location, which had problems with soil contamination asit used to house a dry cleaning plant before the market was built.  GovernorYuriko Koike, a former TV anchorwoman, put the relocation plan on holdshortly after being elected Tokyo’s first female governor in 2016. Shethen found a series of problems with the new site in Toyosu, includingsoil and groundwater contamination as well as the discovery thatcontractors had inexplicably failed to fill in a basement at the newsite with clean soil as a buffer against underground pollution. Thelocal government paid hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up thenew facility and Koike took the final decision to move the market lastmonth, ending years of delays. Tsukiji’s wholesalers had voicedfrustration over the delay, arguing that postponing the move was costingthem millions of dollars a month.