TOKYO, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- A new fish market opened in Tokyo's Toyosu district to replace the famous Tsukiji market, which closed its doors last week after being a mainstay in the capital for 83 years.
Approximately 900 businesses have moved from Tsukiji to the new site, which opens its doors to the public from Saturday.
Hiromi Amino, the president of fish wholesaler Daito Gyorui Co., was quoted as saying, "The Toyosu market boasts new equipment. We will do whatever it takes to make this new place prosper." His remarks came ahead of the tuna bidding opening bell at 5:30 a.m. local time.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, who visited the new site said, "We want to make the Toyosu site Japan's core trading hub by transferring the product assessment expertise fostered at Tsukiji market."
Officials initially decided that Tsukiji had become unsanitary, rundown and no longer able to meet Japan's insatiable demand for fresh fish.
A relocation plan was first proposed almost 20 years ago but was delayed several times.
The most recent delay involved toxic substances, remnants of the gas facility that once operated there, being found at the Toyosu site, costing billions of yen in taxpayers' money in cleanup operations.
The site was eventually deemed safe in July and plans to move were finalized.
"I expect everyone in the new fish market to work hard and promote the Toyosu brand to the world," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press briefing on the matter Thursday.
Tsukiji market was fenced off on Thursday morning and in the afternoon heavy machinery began demolishing some of the old buildings.
The complete demolition of the 155 buildings that comprised the old market is scheduled to be completed by February 2020, government officials said.
The weeks leading up to Tsukiji closing its doors and Toyosu opening up, has seen hundreds of Tsukiji workers protesting its closure. In September, 56 workers sued the city in a failed last-ditch attempt to halt the move.
Former traders, wholesalers and others opposed to the move staged a protest at Tsukiji on Thursday, saying that the move was still the wrong decision.
The demolition of the Tsukiji site now presents the area with a possible rat infestation problem. In an inspection conducted in the summer, there were an estimated 700 rats in Tsukiji.
The Tokyo metropolitan government has allocated a budget of about 35 million yen (311,000 U.S. dollars) to stamp out the rat problem by installing 40,000 sticky sheets, 600 traps and over 300 kg of rodenticide, local media reported.
The site of the old Tsukiji market will be used to park vehicles for the the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Thereafter it will become a tourist center.
