Pacific Bluefin Tuna Fetches Historic Price of 3.2 million dollars at Tokyo New Year Sale

A bulky Pacific bluefin tuna made headlines at the Tokyo's Toyosu fish market this Monday, securing a historic bid of 510.3 million yen ($3.2 million; £2.4m) during the market's opening auction of the calendar year.

The winning bid for the 535-pound fish came from the company of a nationwide sushi restaurant group, which runs restaurants throughout Japan and abroad.

"An inaugural tuna signals a prosperous start," commented the company president, a regular bidder at the annual January sale.

Dubbed the Tuna Tycoon, this industry figure is famous for placing record bids for premium bluefin tuna at these symbolic January auctions.

Bidding Surprise and Historic Precedent

After the auction, the successful bidder informed the press that he was "taken aback at the amount," noting, "I had thought we would be able to purchase it a little cheaper, but the price skyrocketed rapidly."

This latest purchase tops his own historic purchases:

• He secured a tuna for 56.5 million yen back in 2012.
• He paid 155 million yen the following year.
• In 2019, he purchased a tuna for 333.6 million yen (2.1 million dollars).

Despite once remarking that he thought he "bid too high," he has now managed to shatter his personal record another time.

A Tradition of Exorbitant Bids

The inaugural auction at the Toyosu fish market is notoriously characterized by exorbitant prices. The previous year, the initial tuna was acquired for 207 million yen by another culinary group, which stated the fish would be available at its eateries throughout the country.

The frenetic energy at the fish market during these pre-sunrise auctions has become a popular spectacle in Tokyo. Monday's auction, which started around 05:00 local time, was equally bustling.

Swift Service

The extremely valuable tuna was quickly processed for diners at the bidder's sushi restaurants soon after the auction ended.

"I feel like I've started the year in a good way after tasting something so fortune-bringing as the year begins," remarked one satisfied diner.