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- A 535-pound bluefin tuna sold for $3.2 million at Tokyo's Toyosu market.
- Kiyoshi Kimura of Kiyomura Corp. set a new record surpassing 2019's $2.1 million.
- The tuna, caught off Oma, costs $6,060 per pound and symbolizes good luck.
TOKYO — A massive 535-pound bluefin tuna sold for a record $3.2 million at the first auction of 2026 at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market.
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 $2.1 million he set in 2019.
Kimura later told reporters he was hoping to pay a bit less for it, but "the price shot up before you knew it."
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.
The pricey fish was caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan, a region widely regarded for producing some of the country's finest tuna, and costs $6,060 per pound.
"It's in part for good luck," Kimura said. "But when I see a good looking tuna, I cannot resist ... I haven't sampled it yet, but it's got to be delicious."
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.
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.
