On Friday, August 4th, at around 4:50 p.m., a fire broke out in the Tsukiji Outer Market.
Known for its small restaurants that have been around for many years, seven buildings were destroyed in the blaze.
Many of the restaurants are known to be made of wooden structures and are very close in proximity within each other, so the fire spread quickly destroying those buildings.
It took 63 firefighters more than 15 hours to extinguish the fire and Inoue ramen restaurant and other business were destroyed.
UPDATE: Shops that were destroyed: 井上ラーメン(Inoue ramen), 大野屋商店(Onoya shop), 菊屋中村(Kikuya Nakamura, seaweed, dried seafood and pickles), 築地どんぶり市場(Tsukiji Donburi Market), 江戶屋海產(Edogawa Seafood).
While the fish market is slated to move to Toyosu, many locals advocated for a rebuilding of Tsukiji Fish Market to make it better than going to another location.
While the fish market was slated to move back in November 2016, due to contaminated soil, the government is trying to cover the sand until the location is deemed safe. And right now, the date of the move is slated for Fall of 2018.
With a fire destroying nearby buildings and showing how the old Tsukiji Fish Market, while enjoyable to visit and its hard to fathom the fish market moving anywhere else as Tsukiji has been the home for many decades, unfortunately, this fire may prove to show that the old structures prove that they are unsafe and that the move to a new area is probably for the best interest for shop keepers.
But until Toyosu is deemed safe, for many of us who have been to Tsukji multiple times, can only feel sadness as many of us have ate near the outer market numerous times.
For those currently in Japan and were planning to visit Tsukiji Fish Market this weekend, the bon odori event at Honganji Temple is still ongoing.
