Khaberni - A sushi restaurant chain owner paid a record amount of $3.27 million (510.3 million yen) for a giant bluefin tuna auctioned at the prestigious New Year's auction held on Monday at Tokyo's main fish market.
Kiyoshi Kimura, who calls himself the "Tuna King," and whose restaurant chain "Sushi Zanmai" won the auction with this amount for the fish weighing 243 kilograms, caught off the northeastern coast of Japan.
Kimura said after the auction held at the Toyosu Fish Market, "I thought we could get it for a cheaper price, but the price rose very quickly."
The selling price of 510.3 million yen for the fish is the highest since record-keeping began in 1999. The previous record was for a bluefin tuna weighing 278 kilograms sold for 333.6 million yen ($2.12 million) in 2019, following the market's move from its traditional site in Tsukiji in central Tokyo to more modern facilities.
Last year, a bidder paid 207 million Japanese yen ($1.32 million) for a bluefin tuna weighing 276 kilograms.
