Tokyo At an annual fish auction in Tokyo, a bluefin tuna brought almost $1.3 million, the second-highest price since the event’s inception in 1999, according to the auction’s organizers.
The Michelin-starred sushi chain operator Onodera Group and seafood distributor Yamayuki paid 207 million yen ($1,316,835) for the 608-pound bluefin tuna, which is roughly the size and weight of a motorcycle, during the new year’s auction at Tokyo’s major fish market, Toyosu market.
The two businesses have won the auction five times in a row.
Shinji Nagao, president of the Onodera Group, told reporters at the market immediately following the sale that the first tuna is said to bring good fortune. By consuming this tuna, we hope that everyone will have a prosperous year.
A few months after the renowned Tsukiji Market relocated to Toyosu in 2019, the highest-ever bid at the annual auction was 333.6 million yen ($3.1 million at the time), according to local media. Kiyoshi Kimura, the leader of another chain of sushi restaurants and dubbed the Tuna King of Japan, paid for it.
In the years that followed, prices decreased as the COVID-19 pandemic restricted dining out.
Kim Gu reported from Hong Kong, while Arata Yamamoto reported from Tokyo.
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