News

Tourists hoping to take in Tokyo's famous daily tuna auctions will be disappointed this holiday season. The auctions at the Tsukiji fish market - one of the city's most popular tourist destinations - were declared off-limits to visitors on Monday, and will not be reopened until Jan. 17.

Although technically the auctions have never been public, the rise in interest from tourists over the years has been accommodated with a designated viewing area. But the number of visitors has been getting out of control, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

As many as 500 people a day are turning up to watch the massive prized tunas go under the hammer - the highest paid for a 200-kilogram bluefin was ¥20.2-million ($274,000) in 2001 - and some of the tourists' behaviour has shocked locals.

Television news stations in Japan have been screening footage of some of the worst breaches of etiquette, including distracting the auctioneers with flash photography, smoking and drinking, climbing on the forklifts and, most bizarrely, licking the tuna.

Only the auctions have been closed off: The rest of the market is still open to visitors interested in seeing the 900 or so vendors selling about 400 types of seafood. An average of 2,400 tons of fish - worth about $25-million - pass through the market each day.

Those who make the effort to tour the market during the early hours - it opens at 3 a.m. - can still look forward to a breakfast of the freshest sushi.