Fishmongers at Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji tuna auction are feeling the heat as the aging market’s air conditioners struggle to keep up with a heatwave blanketing the country. The dilapidated market is due to close later this year, and will relocate to a new, modern site. But in the
Fishmongers at Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji tuna auction are feeling the heat as the aging market’s air conditioners struggle to keep up with a heatwave blanketing the country.
The dilapidated market is due to close later this year, and will relocate to a new, modern site. But in the meantime, wholesalers have been forced to take measures including keeping their pricey produce in cool trucks until moments before auction.
« We can’t replace the aging air conditioners as we’re relocating very soon, and it’s been so hot that it’s hard to get the temperature down, » an official at the market told AFP.
The auction space is usually kept at 15 degrees Celsius to keep the treasured tuna cool, but an « unprecedented » heatwave meant the mercury hit as high as 20 degrees in July, the official said.
