Tsukiji fish auctions reopened to visitors ... but please behave

[unhappycamper]

Tsukiji fish auctions reopened to visitors ... but please behave
By Hana Kusumoto, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Tuesday, February 17, 2009

TOKYO — Manners — or a lack of them by some visitors — have prompted officials of the largest fish market in Japan to ask foreign tourists to either follow the rules while watching tuna auctions, or stay away.

From touching tuna on display, to using flash photography, to coming to the auction drunk, visitors at Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market have interfered with the early-morning auction and other market activities for years, according to deputy market director Yoshiaki Takagi.

Takagi said that although most people follow the rules, auctioneers are troubled by camera flashes, which distract them from reading bidders’ hand signs, Takagi said. And some people are unruly when they visit the market after a night of drinking, he said.

More than 90 percent of the 70 to 100 daily visitors who come to the auction are foreigners, according to Takagi. The market is also a popular place to visit for people connected with U.S. military bases in the Kanto Plain.

The auction is open to wholesale businesses, but held in a public place where visitors can walk in and watch freely. The market also has restaurants and shops frequented by the general public.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60758