— The Tsukiji Ice Climber Meme Explained
He yells, “The market is closed!”
The man next to him snaps back, “It’s open!”
No one moves. No one wins.
And for some reason, the internet never forgot this moment.
Welcome to one of Japan’s most absurd, endearing, and emotionally loaded real-world memes:
The Tsukiji Ice Climber.
🐟 What Is the Tsukiji Ice Climber?
This meme emerged from the final days of Tokyo’s legendary Tsukiji Fish Market, when it was being shut down and moved to Toyosu in 2018.
During the tense transition, footage surfaced of a bizarre public clash:
One city official sternly declared,
“築地市場は閉場しています！”
(“The Tsukiji Market is closed!”)
Immediately, a protester—or perhaps a stubborn fishmonger—shouted back:
“営業しています！”
(“It’s open for business!”)
They kept repeating it.
Like a loop.
Like a game.
Like the Nintendo Ice Climbers, jumping stubbornly up the mountain.
📺 And just like that, a meme was born.
🎥 The Scene Behind the Meme
The video itself was captured by local TV crews during the volatile handover of the Tsukiji site to Tokyo authorities.
- The inner market (wholesale area) was legally shut down.
- The outer market (shops & food stalls) insisted on staying.
- The city sent officials to enforce closures.
- Tensions exploded—on camera.
🎮 Viewers online jokingly compared the yelling match to Ice Climber, the old Nintendo game where two characters hop upward, repeating motions.
Hence the nickname:
“Tsukiji Ice Climber”
…a poetic, pixelated tribute to real-world chaos.
📈 How the Meme Spread
🎭 Reenactments
- TikTok users lip-synced the shouting.
- Cosplayers quoted the lines at anime events.
- YouTube MADs paired the voices with anime OPs and electronic music.
🎧 Soundbite Remixes
- “開場してます！” (“We’re open!”) became a meme soundboard clip.
- Twitch streamers used it as a sarcastic alert.
- Audio editors spliced it into rhythm games and karaoke challenges.
📲 Twitter / X Threads
People used the format to argue about…
everything.
“This site is down.”
→ “It’s open!”
“My relationship is over.”
→ “Still going!”
“The cake is a lie.”
→ “Nope. It’s open.”
Meme logic:
contradiction equals comedy.
🧠 Why Did This Meme Catch On?
Time to dig deeper.
Here’s what made the “Open / Closed” fight meme-worthy—and meaningful.
1. 🎎 Japan’s Quiet vs. Chaos
In a country known for calm, order, and quiet public behavior…
Two grown men shouting opposite truths?
On camera?
In public?
It’s hilarious—and uncomfortable.
That tension between conflict and conformity struck a chord.
This wasn’t just yelling—it was emotional leakage in a restrained society.
2. 🛑 Bureaucracy vs. Lived Reality
Legally: the market was closed.
Emotionally? Economically? Culturally?
It was still open to the people who lived and worked there.
The meme became a symbol of that contradiction:
Paper says “closed.” People say “open.”
And the internet loves to point out when systems break down.
3. ⛩️ A Ritual of Resistance
Every time someone posts “営業しています” (“We’re open!”),
it’s not just a joke.
It’s a little bit of protest.
A little bit of denial.
A little bit of nostalgia.
Especially for people who grew up visiting Tsukiji, or who felt the loss of its cultural chaos,
this meme is a way of saying:
“It’s not over yet.”
🪞 Meme As Mirror
Some memes are built from fiction.
This one?
It’s a documentary.
A slice of Tokyo’s most emotional market battle, shrunk down into two sentences.
It’s absurd.
It’s tragic.
It’s funny because it’s true.
🔍 Where It’s Used Today
- In meme threads about Japan’s bureaucratic culture
- As reaction memes during online debates
- In videos about urban development drama
- Even in anti-establishment jokes
It’s part of the growing genre of “real-life memes” in Japan—where reality becomes meme not by design, but by drama.
🧳 Final Thoughts: More Than Just a Joke
The Tsukiji Ice Climber meme is more than a punchline.
It’s a cultural echo.
A perfect storm of:
- 🏢 Bureaucratic stubbornness
- 🧍♂️ Human resistance
- 📺 Live media coverage
- 🎮 Internet remix culture
All condensed into:
“閉場しています！”
“開場しています！”
Whether you see it as farce, protest, or performance—
this meme reminds us:
Sometimes, the loudest argument…
isn’t about who’s right.
It’s about refusing to agree on the ending.
