Holy mackerel!
A hulking bluefin tuna the size and weight of a standard motorcycle was bought by a sushi chain owner dubbed the “Tuna King” for a record 510.3 million yen — roughly $3.2 million — at auction.
The 535-pound tuna was sold at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market during its annual New Year auction to Kiyomura Corp, which operates Sushi Zanmai restaurant, owned by “Tuna King” Kiyoshi Kimura.
Kimura shattered the previous record he set at the auction in 2019 when he purchased a 612-pound bluefin tuna for roughly $2.1 million.
The bluefin tuna is expected to sell for up to $13,360 per kilogram, or $6,060 per pound.
Kimura said that he was hoping to lowball, but “the price shot up before you knew it.”
“It’s in part for good luck. But when I see a good looking tuna, I cannot resist. I haven’t sampled it yet, but it’s got to be delicious,” he said.
In Japan, bluefin tuna are the ultimate sign of high status and prestige — and a popular cuisine of choice for high-rolling clientele, according to the Fish Society.
The top tuna was caught off the coast of Oma, a town in the Aomori prefecture, which is widely regarded for producing some of the country’s finest fish. The Aomori region boasts cold and warm current sea creatures, ranging from scallops to flounders, and is the leader in the country’s fishing industry.
Prices are consistently higher for tuna from the waters in Oma.
The Onodera Group, another sushi chain that operates several Michelin-star restaurants, claimed a 608-pound tuna at last year’s auction. The group consistently falls neck-and-neck with the Kiyomura Corp at the annual auctions, though the Onodera Group has shelled out the most of any participating bidders.
The bluefin tuna was flagged as a vulnerable species in 2014 due to climate change and overfishing, but its population has steadily increased thanks to conservation efforts, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
With Post wires
