Japanese sushi chain buys tuna for record $4.18 million at New Year auction
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Mr Kiyoshi Kimura, president of Kiyomura, which operates sushi chain Sushizanmai, with the 243kg bluefin tuna in Tokyo, on Jan 5, 2026.
PHOTO: AFP
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TOKYO – A bluefin tuna fetched a record 510.3 million yen (S$4.18 million) in the first auction of 2026 at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market on Jan 5, with the sushi restaurant operator that splashed out on the fish hoping its customers will be impressed by its purchase.
The 243kg tuna, caught off the coast of Oma in the north-eastern prefecture of Aomori, was bought by Kiyomura, the Tokyo-based operator of sushi restaurant chain Sushizanmai.
“The year’s first tuna brings good luck. We hope as many people as possible can enjoy it and feel energised,” said Kiyomura president Kiyoshi Kimura.
The tuna will be cut at Sushizanmai’s Tsukiji head branch and distributed to its restaurants nationwide. Despite its record spend, the company said it will sell the tuna to customers at the usual price.
The winning bid of 2026 was the highest since comparable data became available in 1999, according to the Tokyo metropolitan government. It was significantly higher than the previous record of 333.6 million yen fetched in 2019, during the first New Year auction in Toyosu following the relocation of the iconic Tsukiji fish market.
The auction on Jan 5, which began at 5.10am with an array of tuna laid out and bidders and sellers engaging in lively exchanges, also attracted many foreign tourists who came to watch the annual event.
It is customary for bidders to spend big at the year’s first auction, seen as a source of good luck and an opportunity for restaurants to cash in on the marketing opportunity. KYODO NEWS
