New Year’s Tuna Auction Logs Record 510 M. Yen

Tokyo, Jan. 5 (Jiji Press)–A bluefin tuna fetched a record 510.3 million yen in New Year’s tuna auction at the Toyosu market in Tokyo on Monday morning. The closely followed annual event began at 5:10 a.m. with the sound of a bell. Of some 250 tunas up for auction, the 243-kilogram bluefin from Oma, Aomori Prefecture, sold at the highest price, at 2.1 million yen per kg, far higher than the previous record of 1.2 million yen scored in 2019. Tunas from Oma are highly prized as a top-tier brand. Kiyomura, which runs major sushi restaurant chain Sushi Zanmai, became the top bidder in a New Year tuna auction at Toyosu for the first time in six years. It exceeded the previous record it had set itself in 2019, which was 333.6 million yen. Company head Kiyoshi Kimura looked a little surprised at the latest auction result. But he said, “I hope many people will feel energized by eating this auspicious tuna.” Among other seafood items, some 400 grams of sea urchin from the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, packaged in a luxurious lacquerware box, fetched a record price of 35 million yen, five times the previous record set last year. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]