‘Tuna King’ splashes $3.2m on giant bluefin at Tokyo New Year auction

Dubai: A massive bluefin tuna weighing 243 kilograms fetched a record 510 million yen ($3.2 million) at the first auction of 2026 at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market, underlining the enduring prestige of the annual New Year sale. The prized fish was snapped up by Kiyomura Corp., led by Kiyoshi Kimura — widely known as the “Tuna King” and owner of the popular Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain.

Kimura, a familiar face at the auction, broke his own previous record of 334 million yen set in 2019. Speaking to reporters after the predawn bidding, he admitted he had hoped to pay less but said the price “shot up before you knew it”.

Caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan, a region famed for premium tuna, the fish cost about 2.1 million yen per kilogram. While hundreds of tuna are sold daily at Toyosu, prices peak during the celebratory New Year auction. Once threatened by overfishing, Pacific bluefin stocks are now recovering following conservation efforts.

Video and inputs - AFP