Sushi restaurateurs in Tokyo say they have paid 207m yen ($1.3m; £1m) for a bluefin tuna which is about the size and weight of a motorbike.
The sale is the second highest price ever paid at the annual new year auction at Toyosu Fish Market in the Japanese capital.
The group has paid the top price in the Ichiban Tuna auction for five years straight.
The highest auction price since comparable records began in 1999 was 333.6m yen in 2019 for a 278kg bluefin.
Toyosu fish market, which opened in 1935, claims to be the biggest fish market in the world, and is known for pre-dawn daily tuna auctions.
Tokyo sushi restaurant owners claim to have spent 207 million yen ($1.3 million; £1 million) on a bluefin tuna, which is roughly the size and weight of a motorcycle.
At the annual new year auction held at the Japanese capital’s Toyosu Fish Market, the sale represents the second-highest price ever.
The 276 kg (608 lb) tuna will be served at the nation’s Michelin-starred Ginza Onodera restaurants as well as Nadaman restaurants, according to the winning bidder, Onodera Group.
After the auction, Onodera official Shinji Nagao told reporters, “The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune,” according to AFP.
Mr. Nagao went on to wish everyone a “wonderful year” and to eat the tuna, which was caught off the northern Japanese region of Aomori.
For the past five years, the group has consistently paid the highest price at the Ichiban Tuna auction.
It forked out 114m yen for the top tuna last year.
Since comparable records started in 1999, the highest auction price has been 333 point 6 million yen for a 278 kg bluefin in 2019.
Self-styled Japanese “Tuna King” Kiyoshi Kimura, who owns a sushi restaurant, paid for it.
Known for its daily tuna auctions held before dawn, Toyosu Fish Market, which opened in 1935, is said to be the largest fish market globally.
According to the Japan Times, Hokkaido sea urchins reached a record-breaking 7 million yen on Sunday, so tuna wasn’t the only catch available.
