TOKYO, Dec 19 — Tokyo’s Tsukiji Outer Market has made an unusual appeal ahead of the year-end rush, asking guided tour groups to refrain from visiting in December as crowds swell in the run-up to Japan’s New Year celebrations.

According to Japanese media, the request, issued by the Tsukiji Food Town Development Council, is aimed at sightseeing tours, eating-while-walking activities and group visits, rather than individual travellers. 

December is traditionally the market’s busiest month, when shoppers from across Japan arrive to buy seafood and other premium ingredients for Oshogatsu, the most important holiday in the Japanese calendar.

A notice posted in the market warns that Tsukiji’s narrow streets become dangerously congested during this period, making it unsafe for large groups to stop for food, photos or explanations. It adds that the police may be contacted if the request is not observed.

Masahiro Terade, vice-chairman of the council, said the appeal was about safety rather than exclusion. 

“There really are a lot of people in December. From a safety standpoint, we are asking for self-restraint, but we are not saying not to come to Tsukiji,” he reportedly said.

Although the wholesale fish market moved to Toyosu in 2018, the surrounding outer market — a dense network of small shops and eateries — has remained a magnet for tourists seeking sushi and street food. 

In recent years, shopkeepers say, inbound tourism has increasingly overlapped with the traditional year-end shopping rush, making December particularly challenging.

While some businesses depend heavily on foreign visitors, others argue that guided tour groups intensify congestion in streets that were never designed for mass tourism. 

Regular shoppers, they say, tend to move through the market more quickly and in smaller numbers.

The council has stressed that the request applies only to December and only to group tours, not independent visitors. 

Its guidance says the aim is to protect both public safety and a long-standing Japanese tradition: buying New Year food at Tsukiji.