Tokyo sushi restaurant owners say they paid 207 million yen ($1.3 million, 1 million pounds) for a bluefin tuna that is the size and weight of a motorcycle.
The winning bid is the second-highest price ever paid at the annual New Year’s auction at the Toyosu market in Japan’s capital.
According to Onodera Group, which won the bid, the 276kg tuna will be served at its Michelin-starred Onodera store in Ginza, as well as at its Nadaman stores nationwide.
According to AFP news agency, Shinji Nagao, an employee of Onodera, told reporters after the auction, “First tuna brings good luck.”
Mr. Nagao encouraged people to eat tuna caught in the Aomori region of northern Japan, adding, “I hope they have a wonderful year.”
The group has paid the highest price in the Ichiban tuna auction for five consecutive years.
Last year, he spent 114 million yen on top tuna.
The highest auction price since comparable records began in 1999 was 333.6 million yen for a 278kg bluefin tuna in 2019.
The person who paid for this was Kiyoshi Kimura, the self-proclaimed “Tuna King” of Japan and the owner of a sushi restaurant.
Toyosu Fish Market, which opened in 1935, bills itself as the world’s largest fish market and is known for its daily pre-dawn tuna auctions.
But it wasn’t just tuna that was caught on Sunday, with Hokkaido sea urchin also selling for a record 7 million yen, according to The Japan Times.
