Where to Shop and Eat: 7 Private Market Tours in Japan

1.Private Toyosu & Tsukiji Market Adventure with Tuna Auction

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 191 reviews · 3 hours · from $153Our pick

Start before dawn at Toyosu Market, where your English-speaking guide explains the bluefin tuna auction and Japan’s seafood trade. Then take a local bus to Tsukiji for sushi, grilled eel, mochi, tamago, and shopping for knives, pottery, matcha, and other Japanese kitchen goods. Guides include Nobby, Sachiyo, Yumi, Emi, and Mayumi. The first-floor auction view requires a lottery.

“Nobby was an amazing guide, the tour itself was very informative and fun. Seeing the fish auction was super interesting, and then getting shown around the outer market and being shown some good restaurants was also very nice.”

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2.Tuna Auction Market Guided Private Tour in Nachi-Katsuura

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 43 reviews · from $42Best value

Join Stella or Chizuko-san for a private 40-minute to 1-hour-15-minute visit to the JF Katsuura Seafood Market. You’ll watch the tuna auction, learn how buyers judge quality, explore an exhibition room, and optionally finish with a local tuna breakfast. Pickup on foot is offered, while taxis and food cost extra.

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3.Private Market Tour and Cooking Class with Kanae, a Sapporo Local

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 29 reviews · from $82

Meet Kanae at Maruyama Koen Station for a market visit, fresh-ingredient shopping, and a home cooking class in Sapporo. She drives up to four people to her home, where you prepare a seasonal Japanese meal together. Lunch, recipes, and one or two local alcoholic drinks are included.

“Loved our cooking class with Kanae in her beautiful home surrounded by mountains and falling snow. We were collected at the meeting point by Kanae and then driven first the local fish and food markets where we purchased our supplies for Read more”

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4.Tsukiji Fish Market Private Food Tour in Tokyo

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 18 reviews · from $82

Explore Tsukiji with a private guide, beginning at Tsukiji Hongwanji Temple before eating through the Jogai Market. Expect sushi, sashimi, Wagyu beef, rice balls, tamagoyaki, and other Japanese specialties. Guide Elly is praised for her English, flexibility, allergy help, and local food knowledge. The tour ends near Tsukiji Station.

“We had an amazing morning with Elly. She was knowledgeable, spoke great English, had interesting and fun facts for parents and kids alike. She also had great picks for where to stop for small bites. We tried everything we wanted to, and left happy, full, and grateful to have done a tour instead of walking around on our own. Thank you Elly!”

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5.Private Tsukiji Fish Market Tour with 3 food stops

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 15 reviews · 2 hours · from $49

Walk through Tokyo’s Tsukiji area with a private English- or Japanese-speaking guide such as Shuto or Sowar. You’ll taste three locally chosen foods, visit Namiyoke Inari Jinja and Tsukiji Hongan-ji, and hear about market customs and daily life. The tour lasts two hours, starts at LAWSON Tsukiji 4 Chome Store, and ends near Tsukiji Station.

“we had a great time exploring the market, shrine and temple with our guide. Shuto not only educated us on the history, but he also taught us how to pray at the shrine and temple and showed us some local favourites in the market.”

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6.Kanazawa: 2-Hour Private Tour of Omicho Market with Tastings

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 7 reviews · 2 hours · from $82

Spend two hours with a private English-speaking guide at Omicho Market, Kanazawa’s food center. You’ll learn how the Edo-period market changed from wholesale trade to a public food hub, then sample seafood, fruit, local specialties, and possibly wagyu. Guides such as Katie, Lee, and Megu have helped visitors shop, ask questions, and choose ingredients to take home.

“We loved Megu! She took us around the market at our pace and even stopped in the supermarket to help us pick out some ingredients to take home. It was great to be able to ask so many questions and we learned alot about the area and culture.”

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7.Private Tsukiji Street Food & Sake with Local Guide

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · 2 hours · from $99

Meet your English speaking guide at Tsukiji Hongwanji Temple for a two hour walk through one of Tokyo’s best food districts. You’ll see the temple, taste wagyu and tamagoyaki, sample teas and dashi, then compare four sakes with baby scallops. The guide can help with food preferences and market tips.

“amazing tour, two guides all to myself! very informative, easy to get along with. I loved that they asked about eating restrictions and tailored to what I liked.”

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