Hi! I’m YUKORIN, a wheelchair user. I will show you around the Tsukiji Outer Market. The outer marker is open even after the Tsukiji Inner Market was moved to the Toyosu Market.
The signboard of the Tsukiji Outer Market
We coincidentally carried out our wheelchair accessibility review on the very day when the Tsukiji Inner Market was closed for its move. This place was extremely crowded as it was a historic day.
A crowd at the outer market
We arrived at a big market building named Tsukiji Uogashi after we threaded our way through the crowd. This building seems wheelchair accessible. Let’s go in!
Tsukiji Uogashi
A wheelchair accessible ramp is installed behind the stairs.
The ramp at the entrance of Tsukiji Uogashi
The fresh food market is located on the 1st floor. There are mainly seafood shops and also a variety of other fresh food shops.
The fresh food market on the 1st floor
Fresh seafood
It is a real marketplace. A small vehicle which carries food and goods sometimes passes through the inside of the building. Be careful of such vehicles even when you are in the building.
A vehicle is passing through the inside of the building.
We took this elevator up to the 3rd floor which is the top floor. It accommodates up to 1 wheelchair and 3 or 4 people.
The elevator
A food court is on the 3rd floor. Although I wanted to have lunch here, each booth was too small and crowded for my wheelchair to enter. According to a salesclerk, it is that crowded at lunch time on Saturdays and Sundays.
The food court
The Rooftop Plaza is also on the 3rd floor. I found it spacious and safe. If a wheelchair user would like to have a meal at a spacious place, I can recommend you to buy something to eat somewhere and then enjoy it here.
The Rooftop Plaza
Some readers might miss some food photos in spite of my writing the blog post on Tsukiji Market. I put a photo of a lunch one of our members enjoyed. The seafood rice bowl looks delicious!
A seafood rice bowl
Let me get back to the scene of the Rooftop Plaza. My attendant said this door was very heavy. She found the door a little hard to open and hold it open while pushing my wheelchair. Manual wheelchair users might want to ask someone to hold it open to pass through here.
The heavy door
When we went down to the 1st floor, I used a multipurpose restroom near the entrance. I had imagined that restrooms in the marketplace would not be so clean. But this restroom was cleaner than my imagination. To my relief, it was also appropriately spacious and well-equipped enough to meet my needs. Two restrooms are located at Tsukiji Uogashi, one near the entrance of the Odawara-bashi building and the other near the entrance of the Kaikou-bashi building respectively.
One of the multipurpose restrooms at Tsukiji Uogashi
The restroom is equipped with bidet functions and an ostomate toilet.
Getting out of the building, we took a walk around the outer market. The streets are so complicated like a maze. I would have surely lost my way without our members’ guide. Besides, there are many narrow and busy streets. Wheelchair users have to take care not to bump into others.
A street at the outer market
However, I enjoyed just watching the busy landscape where a lot of lively people went in and out many different restaurants and shopped around various food shops. I could see why the Tsukiji Market is called the “Kitchen of Japan.”
A Japanese omelette shop
A sushi stand
We completed our wheelchair accessibility review at the Tsukiji Outer Market in an enjoyable way. And then we headed for Tsukiji Honganji Buddhist Temple that was our next destination.
I am passing through the streets of the outer market.
I enjoyed a soft ice cream at the Rooftop Plaza.
I avoided lunch at a crowded restaurant on the day since I choose a way that is as safe as possible. However, if some wheelchair users were to think that they wouldn’t mind having meals at crowded and small restaurants, I can recommend them to try meals at the Tsukiji Outer Market. There are many restaurants at the ground level. You don’t have to be concerned much about stairs. Markets are very lively and congested with people in the first place. This unique ambience might attract a lot of tourists from overseas. Can I tempt you to visit the Tsukiji Outer Market? You will enjoy Japanese food culture through your five senses, I can assure you.
