It is no news that Tsukiji Market’s Inner Market, Tsukiji Jōnai Ichiba, will be moving in the next few years. While the government is saying 2016, our friends who work in the market are telling us it is more likely to be 2017. For sure the market must move by 2018 so that preparations for the 2020 Olympic Games can start. Last I heard the media center would be stationed here. The media center then would be taken down after the Paralympic Games and high-rise condominiums will be built here. UPDATE as of 23 Aug. 2014: Recently did a tour with some clients who are in Tokyo with the International Olympic Committee and they tell me that the press center will NOT be going to where the current Tsukiji Market is. Of course, that could always change. Also, yesterday while visiting this Tokyo Ichiba Project we queried the staff and they tell us the market will not move until 2017.
As for the Outer Market, Tsukiji Jōgai Ichiba, it will stay as it is. The Outer Market is always open to the general public. It is the Inner Market where the wholesale seafood is, as well as the famous tuna auction.
What is up with the future market? To get a better idea, be sure to stop by the Tokyo Ichiba Project museum which is located inside of the market. The museum has pictures of the future market as well as a three-dimensional models.
Here is an overview of what the Toyosu Market will look like. One of the attendants in the museum said that the market name will change from Tsukiji to Toyosu once it moves. Perhaps the current Outer Market will continue to be called Tsukiji. It is very interesting as the models also show how the new market will be broken up into three different complexes with each building having a few floors. The monorail is also shown so that visitors will have an idea of how to access the Toyosu Market.
A photo of the tuna auction at Toyosu. Visitors will be able to view from a second floor viewing platform and from side windows.
The brand new facilities will be temperature controlled.
There will be many restaurants for visitors.
What is not shown at the museum, but what has been shown on television is that a hotel will also be built here. There will also be a hot springs at the hotel with an outdoor onsen on the rooftop that will overlook Tokyo Bay. It is slightly more convenient for the delivery trucks to access, especially for those that make the trip to Narita airport. This PDF has a map of the new facility compared to the current location.
* The new market is only 2.3 kilometers from the current location.
* Toyosu Market will be accessible by the Yurikamome monorail.
* The stop for the Toyosu Market is called “Shijo Mae”.
Tokyo Ichiba Project Museum
Chuo-ku, Tsukiji 5-2-1
open from 9 a.m. to about 2 p.m.
Food Sake Tokyo 
Very interesting report. Thanks. Good comment Kavey. My fear from your report and the photos is that it looks hermetically sealed, with a mall like ambiance, with the obvious danger of losing some of the current vitality, its heart. Now, that said, I assume it will remain the main working fish market (?), and that, at its core, is what makes it work so well for us visitors. Why is it not surprising that the market will be replaced by tall condo towers. Will a new outer market emerge around the new Tsukiji (or whatever it will be called); is there room?
Thanks for this interesting update!
Arigato Shirley-san! Hope you can see this soon.
The new market will be called Toyosu Market. The current outer market of Tsukiji will be able to keep its name. There will be no outer market at the new Toyosu Market.