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It’s o-fish-al: Tokyo’s Tsukiji market to move on Oct 11
TOKYO, Dec 20, 2017 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji fish market will
move to a new site on October 11, the capital’s governor said Wednesday,
ending years of delays marked by scandals and emotional divisions among
fishmongers.
Yuriko Koike’s decision should also clear the way for a key transport hub
for the 2020 Olympic Games to be situated on the market’s site in eastern
Tokyo.
“We believe the schedule will give us enough time to prepare for a smooth
relocation,” she told reporters.
The market, a popular tourist attraction in an area packed with
restaurants and shops, will move to Toyosu, a former gas plant a bit further
east.
Koike’s decision draws to a close a charged debate over what to do with
the dilapidated but beloved Tsukiji market that handles 480 kinds of seafood
worth $14 million daily — as well as 270 types of fruits and vegetables.
The market is best known for its pre-dawn daily auctions of tuna, caught
from all corners of the ocean, for use by everyone from top Michelin-star
sushi chefs to ordinary grocery stores.
The market opened in 1935 and has fed Japan’s hunger for fresh seafood
ever since.
But in recent years the antiquated facility has prompted its users, such
as seafood wholesalers, to voice concerns about its earthquake resistance,
sanitation and fire safety, as well as the structure’s use of asbestos and
its crumbling walls.
They have also discussed the need for upgraded technology, such as better
refrigeration systems.
However, the move, originally slated for late 2016, also faced loud
opposition from various businesses that operate at or around the market, an
extremely popular attraction located conveniently within walking distance
from the Ginza shopping district.
Many businesses were emotionally attached to the Tsukiji brand as well as
the location, which also had its own problems with soil contamination as it
used to house a dry cleaning plant before the market was built.
Koike, a former TV anchorwoman, put the relocation plan on hold shortly
after being elected Tokyo’s first female governor last year.
She then found a series of problems with the new site in Toyosu, including
soil and groundwater contamination as well as the discovery that contractors
had inexplicably failed to fill in a basement at the new site with clean soil
as a buffer against underground pollution.
The local government has paid hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up
the new facility.
Tsukiji’s wholesalers have voiced frustration over the delay, arguing that
postponing the move was costing them millions of dollars a month.
The decision will also officially make the upcoming new year tuna auctions
the last at the beloved market.
In January, Kiyoshi Kimura, Japan’s self-styled “Tuna King,” paid more
than $600,000 for a 212-kilogram (467-pound) bluefin tuna at the first
auction of the new year.
In 2013, the restaurateur paid a record $1.8 million for a bluefin — a
threatened species — outbidding a rival bidder from Hong Kong.
BSS/AFP/MRI/ 1425 hrs