Tokyo’s Central Wholesale Market in Tsukiji may be long gone, but the warren of narrow streets that constitute the outer market area, called Tsukiji Jogai Shijo, still bustle with a taste and a sense of the old days.

On any given day, the shopping zone is thronged with visitors, both domestic and from overseas, as well as local restaurant owners seeking something special to put on their menus.

The fish market, the world’s largest and a major tourist attraction, relocated five years ago from Chuo Ward to the Toyosu region in Koto Ward about 2 kilometers away.

“We will be keeping our neighborhood town prosperous for another 100 years by responding to changing trends and retaining the genuine quality of Tsukiji,” said Masahiro Terade, 59, president of the century-old Omiya Beef store. 

Despite many difficulties, notably the market’s relocation and the COVID-19 pandemic, Jogai Shijo has managed to retain the quality and atmosphere for which the iconic Tsukiji fish market was famous.

At 5.a.m., Hiroto Yazawa, 80, manager of the Niku no Yazawa butcher shop, shows up at his outlet, a cup of coffee in hand. After donning an apron, he begins to take cuts of beef and pork from his freezer and arranges them on a shelf and showcase.

Yazawa, a native of Niigata Prefecture, came to Tokyo when he was 15 and entered the meat industry.

He moved to Tsukiji around 40 years ago and set up his business at its current location in 2001, just as a mad cow disease outbreak was unfurling.

“I never imagined I would spend my life working as a butcher,” Yazawa said. “Did you know that in the old days, a canal ran nearby?”

He said he could just as easily cook and sell pieces of meat in front of his shop and do a roaring business with passing sightseers.

“But I will not do so because that would be like turning my back on our regular customers and their many years of patronage,” Yazawa said with a grin.

But that hasn’t stopped fresh fish retailer Saito Suisan from setting up a table in front of the store for shoppers. People are prohibited from eating while walking.

“It has been difficult for our elderly customers to drop in on us since the novel coronavirus crisis,” said Matao Saito, 67, owner of Saito Suisan. “We provide quality fish so younger individuals and foreign visitors can learn how tasty fresh seafood is.”

Soichi Ishikawa, 43, at the Sugimoto Hamono cutlery shop, noted that fewer chefs or other professionals come to Tsukiji following the central market’s relocation. However, that loss of revenue has been offset by higher sales of items for household use by customers from overseas.

“Everything can be bought on the internet these days, but going shopping at actual stores is great, too,” said Ishikawa. “People can casually start conversations here, making Tsukiji a really nice place.”

Tsukiji, which literally means “built land,” was reclaimed from the sea. Development of the area was originally centered on new main hall for a branch of the Nishi-Hongwanji temple in Kyoto, as it was burned to the ground in the 1657 Great Fire of Meireki.

The current site of Jogai Shijo was home to many temples around that time.

The Central Wholesale Market started operations in Tsukiji in 1935 after the main fish market in the Nihonbashi district was destroyed by the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.

Stores and shops then replaced temples in Tsukiji, turning the area into Japan’s most famous wholesale district.

Tsukiji’s popularity as a tourist venue soared after the start of the new millennium.

The district continues to be thronged with foreign visitors smitten by Japanese cuisine who are getting more for their buck with the cheaper yen.

Menus for non-Japanese diners can be found at every corner. There are lines in front of a famous traditional cracker shop. A skewer of tasty morsels with a hefty price tag of more than 10,000 yen ($66.70) is proving popular as well.

And as before, traditional patrons pop up in Tsukiji to make purchases.

One such longtime customer, Tadayuki Iseya, 54, runs the Japanese-style restaurant Asakusa Juroku. It’s not unusual to see him lugging a bunch of shopping bags around 8 a.m.

“I purchase all sorts of stuff, from meat and fish to veggies,” said Iseya. “My impression of Tsukiji is that there is a wide gap between eateries flooded with sightseers and other specialized establishments.

“I make it a habit to shop at Tsukiji in a quest to help my regular suppliers.”

Terade believes the appeal of Tsukiji lies in its melting-pot culture.

“Varied folk coming to the town contribute to its vitality,” said Terade, who heads the promotional division of a nonprofit organization comprised of business operators in Jogai Shijo that is working to publicize the district as a foodie haven.