Tokyo's famous Tsukiji fish market has closed after 83 years. It shut at noon on Saturday, bringing an end to its long history of trading. The market is moving to a new area of Tokyo. The new market will open on Thursday. City planners in Tokyo decided to close Tsukiji market to build a parking lot for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Market traders at Tsukiji were sad on Saturday as they closed for the final time. One fish auctioneer, Hisao Ishii, said: "I'm almost crying. Today is a sad day of goodbyes."
Tsukiji fish market was called the "kitchen of Japan". A British newspaper described how important it was. It wrote: "Tsukiji is a symbol of the global food trade, the home of Japanese cuisine, and is one of Tokyo's most popular tourist attractions." It said the atmosphere at Tsukiji showed, "an older Tokyo that is gradually disappearing". Nearly 500 types of seafood were sold at the market. The most famous product was bluefin tuna. One bluefin sold for a record $1.7million in 2013. The chairman of Tsukiji said: "Everyone was pouring their heart and soul into their trade until the very end".