Five of the ways into the tuna auction take your party and nobody else, and they are not variations on one another. Three include the ride to a market no train reaches before six. One skips the auction entirely. One collects a family of four from the hotel lobby by car. Toyosu Fish Market tuna auction tours include the group departures as well; this page is only about the private ones.
It is your own party, your own guide and a route through the same free market everybody else walks into. There is no private entrance, no separate corridor and no ninth room. Entry to Toyosu Market is free for everybody, and every one of these operators states that only your travel party takes part.
What you get on top is somebody who can read the floor, a party small enough to hear them beside a working hall, and on three of the five a car at half past four in the morning. Those are the things being sold, and the fares differ almost entirely on the third.
Nothing runs early enough. The first Yurikamome train reaches the market well after the auction starts, so a five o'clock arrival from anywhere but Toyosu itself means a taxi. Two of these fares collect you at your hotel lobby and cover the taxi, and one includes private transport from the station gate. The other two are walking tours that meet you at the market, which is fine if you are staying nearby and expensive in effort if you are not.
Caps run from four to ten and nobody is added to fill a departure. Beside an auction hall that is more useful than it sounds: the room is loud, the glass is sealed, and a guide cannot raise a voice over it for a group of thirteen.
Group mornings run to a timetable set to the minute, because the bus and the breakfast slot are booked. A private morning can spend twenty minutes longer at the glass and cut the shrine, which is what most travellers actually want once they are inside.
Four of these five leave the food to you, so you order at the counter your guide recommends rather than eating a set. One states plainly that it can accommodate vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free with notice. The allergy guide covers what that means at a raw-fish counter.
This is the comparison the page exists for, and the gap is narrower than the price suggests, because neither buys you access to anything.
| A private morning | A group departure | |
|---|---|---|
| Who travels | Your party alone | Up to thirteen, mixed |
| Entry to the market | Free for both | Free for both |
| The observation ballot | Entered on your behalf | Entered on your behalf |
| The taxi at 4:30 | Included on three of five | Optional paid add-on |
| Hearing the guide | Beside you | Audio handset on one departure |
| Pace | Yours | Fixed to the minute |
| From | $107 a head | $107 a head |
| Refunds at 24 hours | Yes, all five | Yes |
Compare the Toyosu Fish Market tours
If the answer to “do I mind sharing?” is no, take a group morning and keep the difference. The price guide does the arithmetic properly.
Fares run from $107 to $480 a head, and the spread is transport and party size rather than anything you see. Read the last two columns before the second one.
| Tour | From | Length | Party cap | Ride included | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private Toyosu Tuna Auction & Tsukiji Market Adventure | From $167 | 3 hours | 10 | Yes | Book |
| Toyosu Tuna Auction & Tsukiji Local Food Tour, Licensed Guide | From $163 | 3 hours | 10 | No | Book |
| Tuna Auction at Toyosu Market with a Qualified Guide | From $215 | 3 hours | 10 | Yes | Book |
| Tuna Auction in Toyosu and Tsukiji Fish Market Tour | From $480 | 4 hours 15 minutes | 4 | Yes | Book |
| Tsukiji & Toyosu Market Local Food Tour with Licensed Guide | From $107 | 4 hours | 10 | No | Book |
Book a Toyosu Fish Market private tour
Two things fall out of that table. The most expensive fare is the one that collects you by car and caps at four, which for a family is a different product rather than a dearer one. And the cheapest private fare is the one that does not visit the auction, which is a saving only if you did not want the auction.
Book further ahead than you would for a group place. These cap between four and ten travellers, so a single family fills one, and the observation ballot closes early in the month before you travel.
Three hours with the taxi from your hotel and the bus on to Tsukiji both inside the fare. Up to ten travellers on one booking, and the guide enters the observation ballot in your names.
From $167 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
Three private hours from the market's own south entrance with a nationally licensed guide. An hour on the auction, an hour on food at Tsukiji, and a route that is step-free throughout.
From $163 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
Private transport from the station gate, and three hours split evenly between the two markets. Your group alone, up to ten, finishing inside the Tsukiji Outer Market rather than back at the start.
From $215 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
Door to door by car for a party of up to four, with the taxi in and the bus on both covered. Infant seats available, and guiding offered in German, Italian, Portuguese and Mandarin as well as English.
From $480 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
Four private hours on foot through both markets, with the shrine and the temple worked in. It does not include the tuna auction, which is why it starts later and spends longer eating.
From $107 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
Toyosu Fish Market Tours lists the group departures alongside these, and the map page puts every meeting point on the ground.