Tsukiji reopens tuna auction to tourists

Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market has lifted a month-long ban on visitors to its tuna auction, but will now limit the number to 140 per day.

The Tokyo Metropolitan government closed the tuna auction floor to sightseers on April 8th after the surging number of tourists, many of them foreign, disrupted transactions.

On Monday, people began lining up before 4 AM for the 140 available tickets. They were divided into 2 groups to watch the auction and no problems were reported.

One foreign tourist said the auction is interesting but that he enjoyed Tsukiji much more on a previous visit because he was allowed to walk around freely.

The Tokyo government gave each tourist a visitor's behavior guideline written in 5 languages.

A market official said he was relieved that there was no confusion during the resumed tour. He said he wants visitors to understand that the business of a wholesale food market must not be disrupted.

Tsukiji has drawn large numbers of foreign tourists because of the popularity of its tuna auctions. The ban followed disruptive behavior by visitors, including touching the fish, and taking flash photographs that caused auctioneers to lose sight of bids worth millions of yen.