TOKYO — Tokyo’s main fish market ushered in the new year with an auction on Saturday that resulted in the highest price paid here, and probably anywhere, for a tuna.
A Tokyo-based sushi restaurant chain owner paid 155.4 million yen, or about $1.76 million, for a 488-pound bluefin, or about $3,600 per pound.
The record price was offered at the year’s first auction at the Tsukiji fish market, which provides Tokyo with much of its fresh fish. Restaurant owners from Japan and elsewhere in Asia compete annually for the prestige of buying the year’s first tuna, whose meat is prized by sushi fans. Conservationists warn that bluefin has been severely overfished.
The winning bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, president of the company that runs the Sushi Zanmai chain. The bluefin was caught by a fisherman from Oma, a town renowned in Japan as the source of the most delicious tuna.
The sale drew national media attention in Japan, where editorials questioned whether the annual bidding war had gotten out of hand. After winning the auction, Mr. Kimura cut up the fish, holding up its huge, silver head to a bank of flashing cameras.
Mr. Kimura also bought last year’s first tuna, for what was then a record 565,000 yen. This year’s price was three times higher because he was caught in a bidding war with the owner of a Hong Kong-based sushi chain before finally prevailing.
New High for Tuna at Tokyo Fish Sale
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New High for Tuna at Tokyo Fish Sale
