Gastronomy 1.28 million euros for tuna at New Year's auction in Tokyo
A record price has been achieved at the New Year's auction at the Toyosu fish market in Tokyo. Sushi restaurant operator Onodera paid 207 million yen (around 1.19 million Swiss francs) for a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna on Sunday.
05.01.2025, 08:14
SDA
This is the second-highest price ever achieved at the annual auction. The Michelin-starred Onodera Group has thus paid the highest price at the auction in each of the past five years.
The size and weight of the auctioned fish are roughly equivalent to those of a motorcycle. "The first tuna is something that is supposed to bring good luck," Onodera representative Shinji Nagao told journalists after the auction. "We wish that people will eat this and have a wonderful year," he added.
Last year, Onodera paid 114 million yen for the most expensive tuna. The highest price ever paid at the Tokyo New Year's auction in 2019 was for a 278-kilogram bluefin tuna. The self-proclaimed "Tuna King" Kiyoshi Kimura, operator of the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain, paid 333.6 million yen at the time. The data has been collected since 1999.
During the coronavirus pandemic, prices for tuna at the annual auction fell significantly due to the associated restrictions for restaurants.
