We recently came across some of these images on the web and reached out to French photographer Nico Therin so we could share the full set. The photos depict a day in the life of the inner section of Tokyo’s historic Tsukiji Fish Market, which is located on a piece of prime land adjacent to the Ginza shopping district.

Founded in 1935, Tsukiji is the largest market of its kind in the world. There are some 900 licensed wholesale dealers stocking over 2,000 tons of seafood a day. Among the hundreds of offerings are the bluefin tuna that can sometimes sell at lively auction for north of a million dollars, each.

Making Therin’s images especially poignant is that fact that Tsukiji’s days are sadly numbered. With the coming of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, it’s being moved to a less “prime” section of the city – a few kms away – in order to make room for glossy new resorts and casinos. Its last day will be in November, 2016.

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