Tsukiji tuna auctions off-limits for tourists

My experience in over 10 years is that tourists visiting Japan are very polite. The one's who seem to have trouble are actually the ex-pats (note the reference to baby strollers in the article). They land here like Lord and Lady with a swaggering, self-entitled, colonial attitude treating the Japanese (and foreign "local hires") like a postcard backdrop to their ongoing life experience. Almost as bad as the Germans.

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

The Tsukiji fish market, the largest in Japan, will ban tourists from the tuna auction floor starting Monday because of congestion in the year-end holiday season as well as bad manners from foreign visitors.

The Tokyo metropolitan government, which runs the market in Chuo Ward, sent notices about the ban to 147 embassies, as well as major travel agencies.

The end of the ban has been tentatively set for Jan. 17.

According to the metropolitan government, the ban will cover the entire wholesale area, including the popular tuna auction floor, inside the market, officially known as the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market.

The ban will not apply to the middle-trader sales space or the Uogashi Yokocho (Fish market alley) area where restaurants are concentrated.

During the ban, metropolitan officials will take turns patrolling the premises and additional security guards will be deployed.

The tuna auction floor is located farthest from the main entrance of the market. The auctions, which take place from around 5:30 a.m. on business days and involve wholesalers bellowing out bids for about 2,000 fish, have become a popular sight among tourists.

The number of foreign tourists to the market has soared in the last two to three years, with as many as 500 visitors showing up a day, according to the metropolitan government.

But problems involving non-Japanese visitors have created constant headaches for market officials. In one extreme case, a tourist posed for a photograph by hugging one of the fish.

Along with the bad behavior, a number of minor accidents involving vehicles and tourists prompted officials to call for measures to restrict entry.

In April, the metropolitan government declared the wholesale area off-limits, in principle. A 50-square-meter space cordoned by rope was set up on the auction floor, where visitors could observe the action between 5 a.m. and 6:15 a.m.

The market also created a pamphlet, translated into four languages, on the dos and don'ts for visitors, but apparently to no avail.

"Some people still showed up pushing baby strollers, and their manners did not improve," said Hiroyuki Morimoto, director of the market.

While the number of foreign visitors has recently declined partly due to the yen's appreciation, market officials agreed to impose the ban during the busiest period of the year.

"With an undetermined number of people entering the market, there are concerns about food sanitation. If possible, we would rather not have people coming in," Morimoto said.

Although no formal decision has been made on when to lift the ban, one merchant said, "Considering that tourists have come a long way to see the market, they should be allowed to visit as long as they do not disturb business."(IHT/Asahi: December 11,2008)