Prices plunge at Tsukiji as demand sinks

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Prices at Tsukiji market in Tokyo have plunged by up to 50 percent as demand from restaurants and hotels has evaporated since this month's earthquake and tsunami, leaving some operators unsure whether they can stay in business.

Prices of seafood such as sea urchin at one time was down by half, while prices of shrimp, wild sea bream, flounder and other fish have fallen by up to 30 percent.

"The drop in demand from sushi restaurants and the cancellation of weddings and banquets at hotels are partly to blame," an official of the market's marine and agricultural produce section said.

Tsukiji's marine products section is normally a hive of activity just after 7 a.m. as buyers from restaurants and handlers sort out their orders. But on a recent morning, many wholesalers and their workers were standing forlornly by shopfronts, chatting and smoking with little to do.

"The fish are here," one Tsukiji wholesaler said. "But nobody's coming to buy it."

Tamanozushi, a sushi restaurant in Higashimurayama, western Tokyo, is one establishment feeling the pinch. The threat of blackouts makes refrigeration patchy--and harder to keep fish fresh--so with fewer customers coming through the door, Tamanozushi has cut fish purchases in line with the reduced demand.

"A few regulars have trickled in, but that's about it," a worker at the restaurant said.