After numerous delays, latest over pollution fears at new site, world’s largest fish market to move to make way for 2020 Olympics
Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji fish market – the largest in the world – is to move from its central location to the site of a former gas plant after a series of delays over concerns about toxic contamination, the city’s governor has confirmed.
The decision by Yuriko Koike comes nearly a year after she halted the move owing to worries about high levels of cancer-causing chemicals in the soil at the newly built facility on a manmade island in Tokyo Bay.
The 80-year-old Tsukiji market, known for its new year tuna auctions, is one of the Japanese capital’s biggest tourist attractions as well as an important wholesaler. More than 1,600 tonnes of seafood worth about 1.6bn yen (£11.3m) pass through the market every day.
The present location, near the upscale Ginza shopping district, is earmarked for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The government had initially planned to sell all or part of the site, but has since said it would be redeveloped as a tourist area and that some merchants would be able to return.
“After that, we will turn it into a new market with a food theme park, ” Koike told reporters on Tuesday, adding that redevelopment would happen within five years to capitalise on Tsukiji’s globally recognised name.
“I think it’s wisest to use both Toyosu and Tsukiji, ” she said, referring to the new location.
Koike, a former TV news anchor elected last year as Tokyo’s first female governor, did not say when the main market would move to Toyosu.
