AFP, TOKYO
The top bidder at a Tokyo fish market yesterday said they paid US$1.3 million for a tuna, the second-highest price ever paid at an annual prestigious new year auction.
Michelin-starred sushi restauranteurs the Onodera Group said they paid ￥207 million (US$1.3 million) for the 276kg bluefin tuna, roughly the size and weight of a motorbike.
It is the second-highest price paid at the opening auction of the year in Tokyo’s main fish market since comparable data started being collected in 1999.
The head of a 276kg bluefin tuna that was auctioned for US$1.3 million is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant in Tokyo yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
The powerful buyers have now paid the top price for five years straight — winning bragging rights and a lucrative frenzy of media attention in Japan.
“The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune,” Onodera official Shinji Nagao told reporters after the auction. “Our wish is that people will eat this and have a wonderful year.”
The Onodera Group paid ￥114 million for the top tuna last year.
However, the highest ever auction price was ￥333.6 million for a 278kg bluefin in 2019, as the fish market was moved from its traditional Tsukiji area to a modern facility in nearby Toyosu.
The record bid was made by self-proclaimed “Tuna King” Kiyoshi Kimura, who operates the Sushi Zanmai national restaurant chain.
