Tuna sells for millions of dollars at Tokyo market

Photo: Kyodo, photo editor: Dastan Shanay

On Jan. 5, the Toyosu Market in Tokyo, Japan — renowned for its large-scale fish trade and regular auctions — sold a 243-kilogram bluefin tuna for roughly $3.2 million at the first auction of the year, setting a new record at the annual New Year’s auction, The Associated Press reported.

According to the market’s official website, the record-holding fish was caught off Oma, Aomori Prefecture, at a cost of roughly $13,400 per kilogram, compared to $4,800 last year. In total, the wholesale tuna market received 270 fresh tuna and 863 frozen.

According to AP, the winning bid was placed by Kiyomura Corp., owned by Kiyoshi Kimura, who runs the Sushi Zanmai chain. Notably, Kimura broke his previous record at the tuna auction in 2019, which amounted to roughly $2.1 million.

Separately, a painting by 19th-century Japanese ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai, «Secchu Bijin Zu,» also known as «Beauty in the Snow,» sold for a record $4 million, marking a record price for a single work by the artist.