Sushi chefs buy motorcycle-sized tuna for $1.3 million at Tokyo auction

Sushi group Onodera buys motorbike-sized tuna at Tokyo auction for $1.3 million, the second-highest price ever paid.

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At Tokyo's prestigious annual New Year auction, Onodera Group, a Michelin-starred sushi chain, bid 207 million yen ($1.3 million) for a 276kg bluefin tuna.

This marks the second-highest price ever paid at the auction since comparable data started being collected in 1999.

The tuna, weighing roughly the size of a motorbike, was purchased on Sunday, making it a significant moment in the opening auction of the year at Tokyo's main fish market.

Onodera Group, which has now secured the top bid for five consecutive years, emphasised that the tuna is meant to bring good fortune.

Onodera official Shinji Nagao expressed the wish that people who eat the tuna would have a wonderful year ahead. "The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune," Nagao said after the auction.

Last year, Onodera paid 114 million yen for the top tuna, but the highest-ever auction price of 333.6 million yen was set in 2019 for a 278kg bluefin tuna.

The record bid was made by Kiyoshi Kimura, the self-proclaimed “Tuna King,” who operates the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain.

This bid came after the Tokyo fish market was relocated from the traditional Tsukiji area to its modern facility in Toyosu.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the New Year tuna auction prices dropped as the public was discouraged from dining out and restaurants operated under limited capacities, leading to lower bids compared to previous years.