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Tsukiji bans spectators at morning auctions

Frustration over the bad manners of foreign tourists who come to watch morning auctions at the Tsukiji Fish Market has led to a ban:

According to a tuna wholesalers’ association, the rush in foreign visitors started with the “sushi boom” 10 or so years ago, and has grown especially severe over the past five to six years, following news of the market’s planned closure.

While the auctions are technically off-limits to spectators, auctioneers have informally allowed people to watch from a designated area of the auction hall. With many taking flash photography or touching the produce, however, auctioneers and market workers alike have often been disturbed by visitors: “They can’t understand the language, so we can’t even warn them,” complained one.

As a result, the metropolitan government has informed various tourism-related organizations of their decision to ban spectators at the morning auctions from Dec. 15 to Jan. 17.

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20 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - December 4, 2008 at 7:29 am

Categories: Foreigners in Japan Tags:

http://www.chirimotsumoreba.net Jordan

Well, I got in b4 the ban. To be honest its not really a place for spectators anyways. Even the stalls in front of the warehouses are too narrow to have people standing around gawking.
Level3

Went 10 years ago, toward the later morning expecting things would have quieted down a bit, [and didn't feel like waking up at 4AM to get there to see the early auctions] and stuck around the area that seemed geared toward small-scale customers, but still it was definitely no place for tourists.

I got by OK because I went alone and tried my best to stay out of everyone’s way, but even then I almost got hit by forklifts and carts a couple times. The operators were clearly practiced at evading tourists. Can’t imagine a family of 4 or an entire group of fat Germans in there.

There are these kind of huge central markets in many towns in Japan, [1 km SE of Tennojji in Osaka] and you can’t just walk into those [or maybe you can, never tried]

Just go to your local fish market.

Thomas

Fat Germans? Ever been to *your* country?

Level3

Purposefully said Germans as a bit of trolling.
Knew it would work.

http://www.zdwonline.de Haf

Shame on you for doing so! I’m not fat, I just have big German bones!
The Overthinker

I think it’s a legitimate comment. it doesn’t say that all Germans are fat, and after Helmut Kohl and his cookbook who can deny that the Germans are fond of good hearty fare?
Level3

Seriously, it was just bait for the kind of people who want to bash America and Americans at any and all opportunities. Extremists are easy to manipulate.

Unless “Thomas” just forgot to put his smiley at the end?

Besides Americans like me are too lazy to wake up at 5AM to go to a fish market. Maybe if it was a pizza market, or a French fry market…

Mmmmmmm, French fries. [drool]
inuZ

Maybe you should add smilies at the end of your sentences if you´re not serious!
And no, it has nothing to do with being an extremist when you feel attacked by something like that. Maybe sensitive, but definitely not extremist.

Can’t imagine a family of 4 or an entire group of fat and dumb Americans in a museum.
(hahaha loooook i´m trolling, hahaha)

…

me

Racists! Someone call Debito!

doinkies

I’m sure Debito will try to make this into a race issue when it’s really a “doinky tourists” issue.

LB

Well doinkies, you won the bet!

http://www.debito.org/?p=2080

The Overthinker

Debito reckons signs in English should work. But tourists ignore signs. I’ve seen people snapping flash photos of the Mona Lisa right next to a No Flashes sign….

Level3

Yeah, but debito is going on the point that the Japanese version of the article has a headline blaming “foreigners bad manners” for the closure, while the English version just blames “too many tourists”

So, once again the Japanese press seem to think Japanese is some secret code that no gaijin can crack, and thus are more free to put the standard xenophobic spin on things, but only in the Japanese version. This is a very legitiamte issue.

Though netiher the article nor debito go out of thier way to point out that in theory ALL visitors to the market will be banned, not just gaijin [though Japanese natives will still probably be slipping in as long as they don't look too obviously like tourists...which would be a good case of debito supporters, monitor the market and see how the policy is actually enforced...only gaijin turned away? or Japanese camera-toters also turned away?]

The Overthinker

No, Debito’s point about the article headline is just an aside in a parenthesis.
Grit

You are wrong. As far as I understand, the morning auction has already been off-limit for Japanese toursits, at least theoretically (and that’s what Japanese are informed, as I confirmed with my friends and some web pages), and only open for certain “foreigner” tourists. At any rate, if you have been there yourself, you can see that nowadays they were mostly non-Japnese who came to watch the auctions, and so were those tourists acting in improper and even somehow disturbing ways (indeed as a foreigner tourists, I felt a bit ashamed of those guys as a couple of them seemed to have came from the same country as me… I could only understood bits of Japanese the market man was yelling, but obviously he was angery, yet the tourists didn’t care). So the Japanese version of the headline is legitimate, in my opinion, while, seems to me, the English version trying to be soft in Japanese manner.

Indeed the phonomenon of the “ugly Americans(or insert your own nationality) is unfortunately universal. When we go to other countries, we have to try to find out local rules and try to respect them… but if some of them can’t… then you can’t really blame the locals for introducing new regulations or bans.

LB

Debito is busy sharpening his knives for Paul De Vries at the moment….

TwistedCyberChick

Glad my trip brought me there in October, not December. ^.^

It’ll be a shame for anyone who’d wanted to visit during that month, but I’m sure the local merchants will appreciate a breather. I’m guilty of poking some Styrofoam boxes just on the other side of the barrier, I’ll be honest.

When it comes to safety… I got hit by a bicycle. Wham! in the arm. Oh well. A small price to pay.
The Overthinker

As far as I can tell, and feel free to correct me, the main audience for Tsukuji is jetlagged Americans who have nothing else to do at four in the morning. At least that’s the way I often see it promoted.

Incidentally, I have never been, but some of the restaurants could be worth a look.
inuZ

Yup, we like to eat hearty – good pork hocks are the best
(No I´m not fat )
Pingback: “I hate the way some foreigners behave!” | Japan Probe

Tsukiji bans spectators at morning auctions

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