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Second highest ever price: Tuna sells for $1.8m in first Tokyo auction of 2020

Tuna was caught off northern Aomori Prefecture and weighed 276kg

Reuters January 05, 2020

Kiyoshi Kimura, president of Kiyomura Corp., operator of Japanese sushi chain Sushizanmai, poses with a bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 193 million Japanese yen. PHOTO: REUTERS

TOKYO: A Bluefin tuna sold for 193.2 million yen ($1.8 million) in the first auction of the New Year at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market, the second highest price on record, NHK broadcaster reported.

The tuna was caught off northern Aomori Prefecture and weighed 276 kilogramme, according to NHK, which translates into a price of about 700,000 yen per kilogram.

A 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 193 million Japanese yen (about $1.8 million) is displayed after the first tuna auction of the New Year at Toyosu Market, in front of a restaurant of sushi restaurant chain Sushizanmai in Tokyo, Japan. PHOTO: REUTERS

A 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 193 million Japanese yen (about $1.8 million) is displayed after the first tuna auction of the New Year at Toyosu Market, in front of a restaurant of sushi restaurant chain Sushizanmai in Tokyo, Japan. PHOTO: REUTERS

The tuna is displayed at Toyosu Market in Tokyo. PHOTO: REUTERS

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The successful bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, the head of the company that runs sushi restaurant chain "Sushizanmai," NHK said. Last year Kimura paid a record 333.6 million yen for a tuna at the auction, exceeding his previous record price in 2013.

($1 = 108.0800 yen).