US EditionBluefin tuna sells for record $3.2 million at year-opening auction at Tokyo fish market
Kiyomura Corp paid a record ¥510 million for a 243 kg bluefin tuna in Tokyo's New Year auction, highlighting growing interest amid improving fish stocks, experts said.
- On January 5, 2026, Kiyoshi Kimura's Kiyomura Corp bought a Pacific bluefin for 510.3 million yen at Toyosu fish market's early-morning New Year auction.
- Custom at the New Year's first auction sees bidders spending big for good luck and marketing, with Kimura's history of top prices including a 2019 record shaping expectations.
- Weighing 243 kilograms, the tuna was caught off Oma by Toyokazu Ito, fisherman from Oma, Aomori Prefecture, and taken to Sushizanmai's Tsukiji head restaurant for cutting.
- Kiyomura Co. said it will sell the tuna cuts at usual prices with a one-piece limit per customer and hold a public cutting show at its Sushi Zanmai main branch on Jan. 5.
- Looking beyond the sale, fisheries specialists point out Dave Gershman, Pew Charitable Trusts international fisheries team, said the 2017 recovery plan 'is working,' while Kimura urged Pacific nations to adopt long-term management this year as the IUCN Red List now lists bluefin as 'near threatened.
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166 Articles
What Turns a Bluefin Tuna Into a $3.2 Million Fish? Look to the Waters Where Japan’s Finest Are Caught
Caught off Honshu’s northern tip, the 535-pound bluefin was brought to Toyosu Market’s New Year auction, where Sushi Zanmai owner Kiyoshi Kimura claimed it with the morning’s top bid.Photo by A 535-pound Pacific bluefin tuna sold for $3.2 million at Tokyo’s Toyosu Market during the first auction of the year. The buyer was Kiyoshi Kimura of Sushi Zanmai, a familiar figure at these high-stakes sales.Key PointsSushi Zanmai owner Kiyoshi Kimura, kno…
MILLIONAIRE CATCH: Bluefin Tuna Sells for Record Price in Japan’s New Year Auction – Sushi Chain Owner Pays Over $3 Million for ‘Good Looking’ Fish
Kiyoshi Kimura shows his record-priced tuna – Screengrab/Social media X. Kiyomura Corp owner will serve millionaire fish at standard prices nationwide. Tokyo’s New Year fish auction is a traditional event held in the Toyosu fish market, the biggest in the world. On Monday (5) the owner of a Japanese sushi chain shattered all records by paying $3.24 million (510 million yen) for a single bluefin tuna. Yes, you read it right: over 3 million dollar…
The fish weighed 243 kilograms.
Japanese entrepreneur and sushi restaurant chain owner Kiyoshi Kimura, known as the "Tuna King", paid a record $3.2 million for a giant bluefin tuna at a traditional New Year's auction at Tokyo's main fish market, breaking the previous world record, France24 reports, citing AFP.
A 243 kilos bluefin tuna was awarded at a record price during the first auction of the year at the Tokyo market. Behind this spectacular sum, mix Japanese tradition, commercial strategy and race to global visibility.
500-pound tuna reels in record $3.2 million in Japan
A 535-pound tuna sold for $3.24 million at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market on Monday, setting a new record. The fish was caught off Oma, a town in Japan’s north renowned for its tuna production, and purchased by Kiyoshi Kimura, the owner of the popular Sushizanmai restaurant chain. Despite the fish’s extraordinary provenance, Kimura plans to sell the tuna at the chain’s usual price so that “people all over Japan can enjoy a bite of it and feel revita…
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