{"id":493819,"date":"2026-01-05T10:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T10:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/493819\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T10:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T10:04:17","slug":"bluefin-tuna-gets-record-3-2-million-at-first-tokyo-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/493819\/","title":{"rendered":"Bluefin tuna gets record $3.2 million at first Tokyo auction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TOKYO (AP) \u2014 A massive 243-kilogram (535-pound) bluefin tuna sold for a record 510 million yen ($3.2 million) at the first auction of 2026 at Tokyo\u2019s Toyosu fish market.<\/p>\n<p>The top bidder for the prized tuna at the predawn auction on Monday was Kiyomura Corp., whose owner Kiyoshi Kimura runs the popular Sushi Zanmai chain. Kimura, who has won the annual action many times in the past, broke the previous record of 334 million yen ($2.1 million) he set in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"image-ab0000\"\/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Wholesalers and buyers take part in the New Year's tuna auction at Toyosu fish market in Tokyo, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo\/Louise Delmotte)\"  fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"599\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767607455_322_.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Wholesalers and buyers take part in the New Year\u2019s tuna auction at Toyosu fish market in Tokyo, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo\/Louise Delmotte)<\/p>\n<p>Wholesalers and buyers take part in the New Year\u2019s tuna auction at Toyosu fish market in Tokyo, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo\/Louise Delmotte)<\/p>\n<p>                Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n<p>        Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n<p>            Share<\/p>\n<p>                            Read More<\/p>\n<p>Kimura later told reporters he was hoping to pay a bit less for it, but \u201cthe price shot up before you knew it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The auction started when the bell rang, and the floor was filled with torpedo-shaped fish with their tails cut off so bidders could examine meat details such as color, texture and fattiness while walking around the rows of tuna.<\/p>\n<p>The pricey fish was caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan, a region widely regarded for producing some of the country\u2019s finest tuna, and costs 2.1 million yen ($13,360) per kilogram ($6,060 per pound).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s in part for good luck,\u201d Kimura said. \u201cBut when I see a good looking tuna, I cannot resist &#8230; I haven\u2019t sampled it yet, but it\u2019s got to be delicious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"more-section-display-name\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"Link\" aria-label=\"That\u2019s some pricey fish: A glimpse into Japan\u2019s New Year\u2019s tuna auction\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/tuna-fish-auction-japan-8225a7241078e8edc699321073046f26\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"A bluefin tuna that won the highest bid at the annual New Year auction is carried to a Sushi Zanmai restaurant in Tokyo, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo\/Louise Delmotte)\"  width=\"599\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767607456_151_.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of tuna are sold daily at the early morning auction, but prices are significantly higher than usual for the Oma tuna, especially at the celebratory New Year auction. <\/p>\n<p>Due to the popularity of tuna for sushi and sashimi, Pacific bluefin tuna was previously a threatened species due to climate change and overfishing, but its stock is recovering following conservation efforts.<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"image-0a0000\"\/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Wholesalers inspect bluefin tuna at the New Year's tuna auction at Toyosu fish market in Tokyo, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo\/Louise Delmotte)\"  fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"599\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767607457_966_.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Wholesalers inspect bluefin tuna at the New Year\u2019s tuna auction at Toyosu fish market in Tokyo, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo\/Louise Delmotte)<\/p>\n<p>Wholesalers inspect bluefin tuna at the New Year\u2019s tuna auction at Toyosu fish market in Tokyo, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo\/Louise Delmotte)<\/p>\n<p>                Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n<p>        Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n<p>            Share<\/p>\n<p>                            Read More<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TOKYO (AP) \u2014 A massive 243-kilogram (535-pound) bluefin tuna sold for a record 510 million yen ($3.2 million)&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":493820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,57,115221,10855,67,132,68,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-493819","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-general-news","10":"tag-kiyoshi-kimura","11":"tag-tokyo","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115841929483241793","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}