First tuna auction at Japan’s ‘new Tsukiji’ market

The first tuna auction at the new Toyosu fish market in Tokyo, on the day it opened on Oct 11, 2018. Photo: AFP

The cries of the raucous pre-dawn tuna auction rang out for the first time at Tokyo’s new fish market on Oct 11, just days after the world-famous Tsukiji site closed the door on its 83-year history.

The location may have changed but the ritual remained the same: huge whole tuna laid out on the ground, bells tolling to sound the start of the auction and a loud and bewildering system of bidding understood only by those taking part.