Toyosu Tuna Auction Lottery 2026: Dates & Best Tips

The Toyosu tuna auction lottery is a free monthly online draw for a place on the lower observation deck at Toyosu Market, where 100 people a day watch the tuna auction from 5:45 to 6:25am. For December 2026 tours, entries are open from 3pm on Wednesday 4 November to 11:59pm on Tuesday 10 November (Japan time), and winners get an email on Thursday 19 November.

Miss the draw and you can still watch for free: the second-floor visitor walkway above the auction floor opens at 5am on market days, with no booking and no cap on numbers. This guide covers how the lottery works, every December date, the January 2027 window, the market’s closed days, the 5:30am logistics and where to eat sushi for breakfast afterwards. Everything was checked on 5 November 2026 against the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) Toyosu Market page and the official lottery site.

How does the Toyosu tuna auction lottery work?

The tuna auction at Toyosu runs in a closed wholesale hall. Visitors watch from above, through glass. There are two ways in: a free walkway on the second floor that anyone can use, and an observation deck on the lower floor, much closer to the tuna, which you can only enter if you win the monthly draw.

The draw is run for TMG through a lottery site at toyosu.jcdlotterysite.jp. It is not first come, first served: everyone who applies inside the window has the same chance. The rules below come from the December 2026 application notice and the official tour FAQ.

• Free. There is no fee to enter the draw or to join the deck tour.
• One entry per group. A group can apply once. Duplicate entries by the same representative are invalid.
• Up to five people. One representative plus up to four companions. Babies and toddlers count as people and must be listed, even at age 0.
• Representative age. The person applying must be junior high school age or older.
• Three date choices. You pick up to three preferred tour days in order.
• 100 people a day. Each application is drawn as one unit, so a group of five wins or loses together.
• No second round. The FAQ says there is no secondary recruitment, no waiting list and no same-day entry.
• No transfers. You cannot change a confirmed date, pass the place on or resell it. Resellers are barred.

Groups of six or more must split into separate applications, each with its own email address. The draw treats them separately, so part of your group may win while the rest does not.

Toyosu tuna auction lottery dates: December 2026 and January 2027

TMG publishes each month’s notice early in the previous month. The windows open on a Wednesday at 3pm and close the following Tuesday at 11:59pm. These are the rounds confirmed on 5 November 2026 in the November and December notices.

Tour month	Entry window (JST)	Results	Tour days
November 2026 (closed)	Wed 7 Oct, 3pm – Tue 13 Oct, 11:59pm	Thu 22 Oct, about 6pm	2, 4–7, 9, 10, 12–14, 16, 17, 19–21, 24–28, 30 Nov
December 2026 (open now)	Wed 4 Nov, 3pm – Tue 10 Nov, 11:59pm	Thu 19 Nov, about 6pm	1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24 Dec
January 2027	Wed 2 Dec, 3pm – Tue 8 Dec, 11:59pm	Thu 17 Dec	Not yet published
February 2027 onwards	Not yet announced	Not yet announced	Not yet published

December has 17 tour mornings. There are no tours on Sundays or on the Wednesday market closures (2, 9, 16 and 23 December), and the December notice says there are no tours from Friday 25 to Wednesday 30 December. Saturday 5, 12 and 19 December are the only weekend options.

The FAQ also says no early-morning tour places are offered for 25 December to 5 January. If your trip falls over the New Year, you will be on the free walkway, not the deck.

How to pick your three Toyosu tuna auction lottery dates

TMG does not publish how many people apply for each day, so nobody can tell you which date is easiest to win. What you can control is spread. Choose three days you can genuinely make, ideally in different weeks, and remember that the date you win is fixed.

Avoid choosing your flight-out day or the morning after a late arrival. The meeting time is 5:30am and late arrivals can lose their place.

How to apply for the Toyosu tuna auction lottery, step by step

Applications for the Toyosu tuna auction lottery are online only. The FAQ is clear that phone and email applications are not accepted. The English lottery page walks you through it.

1. Open toyosu.jcdlotterysite.jp/index_en during the entry window and choose the December tour.
2. Enter the representative’s name, date of birth, country or region of residence and email address.
3. Add up to four companions, including any children.
4. Pick up to three preferred days.
5. Create and save your Application Status Password. You need it to check your result.
6. Check that the confirmation email arrived. If it did not, check spam and reapply inside the window, ideally with a different address.

Results are emailed only to winners, from noreply@jcdlotterysite.jp, on 19 November at about 6pm. The lottery site says the winning email cannot be resent, so add that address to your safe senders now and save the email the moment it lands.

Made a mistake? You can reapply before the deadline to change dates or companions. Only your latest application counts. After 10 November nothing can be changed, and you do not need to contact anyone to cancel.

What happens on the morning of the Toyosu tuna auction tour?

Winners meet at 5:30am at the Promotional Corner (PR Corner), 3rd floor of the Block 7 Management Facilities Building. The December notice says the group moves to the deck right after gathering, so do not be late. Viewing runs from 5:45 to 6:25am.

• Photo ID for everyone. A passport works for visitors. Children of elementary school age or younger without photo ID can show a health insurance card, per the FAQ.
• Your winning email. Show it on your phone or on paper.
• No flash. Flash photography is not allowed.
• Sober only. You cannot join if you have been drinking.
• Late? You lose the deck place but can still use the second-floor walkway.

The deck tour ends at 6:25am, and the market’s restaurants are already open by then. That timing makes a sushi breakfast the obvious next step.

Lost the Toyosu tuna auction lottery? Use the free upper gallery

The second-floor visitor walkway in the Fisheries Wholesale Market Building looks down on the tuna hall through windows. The FAQ confirms there is no limit on visitor numbers and that it is open from 5am on market days, whether or not you entered the draw. JNTO gives the auction itself as running from about 5:30 to 6:30am.

This is the upper level, so you are further away and looking through glass. Space at the front of the windows is limited, so arrive close to 5am if you want a clear view rather than the backs of other heads.

	Lower observation deck	Second-floor walkway (upper gallery)
Booking	Monthly lottery only	None, just turn up
Cost	Free	Free
Capacity	100 people a day	No limit
Time	Meet 5:30am, view 5:45–6:25am	From 5am on market days
View	Closer to the auction floor	From above, through windows
ID needed	Yes, for every person	No
New Year (25 Dec–5 Jan)	No tours offered	Open on market days only

Toyosu Market closed days: the 2026–27 calendar

Toyosu closes on Sundays, national holidays and most Wednesdays, plus a few extra days. No market means no auction, no deck tour for Toyosu tuna auction lottery winners and most restaurants shut. The dates below come from the JNTO tourist information sheet for 2026, which matches the days missing from TMG’s November and December tour lists. TMG’s own 2026 business-day calendar is the master copy.

Month	Closed (2026)
November 2026	Sundays 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; Tue 3 (Culture Day); Wed 11; Wed 18; Mon 23 (Labour Thanksgiving Day)
December 2026	Sundays 6, 13, 20; Wed 2, 9, 16, 23; Thu 31. Sunday 27 December is an open day
January–April 2027	TMG has published a May 2026–April 2027 schedule, but we could not verify individual 2027 dates. Check before you go

The odd one out is Sunday 27 December 2026, which is listed as an open day. There is no deck tour that day, but the walkway is open from 5am. TMG’s annual schedule for May 2026 to April 2027 is the place to check January dates, including when trading restarts after New Year.

How do I get to Toyosu Market for 5:30am?

The market sits next to Shijo-mae Station (U14) on the Yurikamome line. From the ticket gate, a covered pedestrian deck leads straight into the 3rd floor of the Block 7 building, where the PR Corner is. TMG’s access map puts it at about four minutes on foot.

• Yurikamome: from Shimbashi (U01) to Shijo-mae (U14). Check the first train on the official Yurikamome timetable against the 5:30am meeting time before you rely on it.
• Tokyo Metro: Toyosu Station on the Yurakucho line is about 20 minutes’ walk, according to JNTO.
• Toei Bus: route 市01 from Shimbashi Station to the Shijo-mae Ekimae stop, or 都05-2 from Tokyo Station (Marunouchi South Exit) to Shin-Toyosu Ekimae.
• Tokyo BRT: from Shimbashi to the Toyosu Shijo-mae stop takes about 8 minutes on the trunk route, per TMG.
• Car or bike: there is no visitor parking and no bicycle parking. Use public transport or a taxi.

A 5:30am meeting is early for any public transport. Staying in Toyosu or along the Yurikamome line the night before, or booking a taxi, removes the risk. Our where to stay in Tokyo guide compares bases across the city.

Shijo-mae Station has coin lockers, toilets and lifts, according to the Yurikamome station page. Leave big bags there before you walk over.

Where to eat sushi breakfast after the tuna auction

Toyosu has 38 restaurants inside the market, according to the official GO TOKYO listing: 22 on the 3rd floor of the Block 6 Fisheries Intermediate Wholesale Market Building, 13 on the 3rd floor of the Block 7 Management Facilities Building and 3 on the 1st floor of the Block 5 Fruit and Vegetable Building. They follow the market calendar, so they are closed on the same days as the auction.

Sushi Dai (Block 6, 3F)

The best-known name in the market. GLTJP lists hours of 5:30am to 2pm, closed Sundays, holidays and market-closed Wednesdays (updated March 2026). If it is your target, head there straight after the auction.

Daiwa Sushi (Block 5, 1F)

The other big sushi name sits in the Fruit and Vegetable Building, according to TOKYO GROWN, the Tokyo government’s agriculture foundation. Because it is in a different building from Sushi Dai, it is a good second option when one queue looks too long.

Seafood bowls and set meals (Block 6 and Block 7, 3F)

If you want kaisendon (a seafood rice bowl) or a grilled-fish set rather than a counter omakase, the 3rd floors of Blocks 6 and 7 are lined with them. We have left out menu prices because we could not confirm 2026 figures from the restaurants themselves. Carry some cash in case a counter does not take cards.

Senkyaku Banrai (open every day)

The Edo-style food and spa complex across the road from the market opens later, but it is open year-round. GO TOKYO and the official facilities page give restaurant hours of 10am to 10pm, with the 2nd-floor Megiki Yokocho lanes open 10am to 6pm and a few 2nd-floor shops from 9am. That makes it your back-up on a Wednesday or Sunday when the market is shut.

Want a sit-down sushi dinner later in the trip? Our omakase Tokyo guide covers 13 counters with prices and booking, and how to book restaurants in Japan explains reservation sites and no-show rules.

What else can you do at Toyosu after the auction?

• Uogashi Yokocho shops. About 70 shops selling knives, kitchenware, dried goods and other food-related products, per GO TOKYO.
• Green Roof Plaza. A rooftop lawn on the Block 6 building, listed in the JNTO sheet.
• Fruit and vegetable auction. Block 5 has its own observation windows over the produce trading floor, per JNTO. It is quieter than the tuna hall.
• Free foot bath. Senkyaku Banrai’s 8th-floor foot bath garden is free and open 9am to 10pm, per the official site.
• teamLab Planets. The digital art museum is one Yurikamome stop away at Shin-Toyosu, so it pairs easily with a market morning.

First time in the city? Our first-time Tokyo guide shows how to fit an early market morning into a wider itinerary. If your trip runs into January, check Japan public holidays 2027 too, since the market closes on every national holiday.

Toyosu tuna auction lottery FAQ

Sources and how we checked

All dates, times and rules in this guide were checked on 5 November 2026 against the TMG Toyosu Market page, the December 2026 and November 2026 application notices, the official tour FAQ and the lottery site. Closed days come from the JNTO 2026 Toyosu sheet, cross-checked against TMG’s tour lists; access from TMG’s access map; Senkyaku Banrai hours from its official site. Restaurant hours change, so confirm on the day. We have left out anything we could not verify, including 2027 closed days and the January tour dates.