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A Japanese sushi chain shattered records Monday by paying a staggering $3.24 million (510 million yen) for a single bluefin tuna at Tokyo’s famed New Year fish auction.
The top bidder for the prized 536-pound tuna was Kiyomura Corp., the Tokyo-based operator of popular sushi restaurant chain Sushi Zanmai. The bid broke Kiyomura’s previous record of $2.1 million (333.6 million yen) in 2019.
Kiyomura owner Kiyoshi Kimura told reporters that he did not expect to pay so much for the fish, but “the price shot up before you knew it.”
“I thought that (the winning bid) would come in a little bit lower, maybe around 400 million or 300 million yen, but it turned out to be over 500 million,” Kimura, known as the “Tuna King,” told reporters.
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The prized fish was caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan, a region famed for producing some of the country’s best tuna. It fetched about $13,360 (2.1 million yen) per kilogram, or roughly $6,060 per pound.
“It’s in part for good luck,” Kimura said. “But when I see a good looking tuna, I cannot resist … I haven’t sampled it yet, but it’s got to be delicious.”
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The massive tuna was taken to Sushizanmai’s flagship restaurant, then sliced and distributed to locations nationwide. Kimura said the tuna will be served to customers at standard menu prices.
“I hope the economy will get better this year. The Takaichi administration pledged to work, work, work, so Sushizanmai will work, work, work too,” Kimura said, referring to the new government of Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister. “I hope this bid will cheer everyone up.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
