Prized catch: A bluefin tuna from Oma, Aomori Prefecture, which was purchased by the Onodera Group for US$1.3mil, being showcased to the media following the first tuna auction of the New Year at Tokyo’s Toyosu Market. — AFP
The top bidder at a Tokyo fish market said they paid US$1.3mil for a tuna, the second highest price ever paid at an annual prestigious new year auction.
Michelin-starred sushi restaurateurs the Onodera Group said they paid ¥207mil (RM5.92mil) for the 276kg bluefin tuna, roughly the size and weight of a motorbike.
Fresh cut: A sushi chef showing off a fillet from the bluefin tuna jointly bought by Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo. — Reuters
It is the second highest price paid at the opening auction of the year in Tokyo’s main fish market since comparable data started being collected in 1999.
The powerful buyers have now paid the top price for five years straight – winning bragging rights and a lucrative frenzy of media attention in Japan.
Million-dollar bite: Mongolian-born grand sumo champion Yokozuna Terunofuji getting a taste of the first nigiri sushi cut from the bluefin tuna in Tokyo. — Reuters
“The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune,” Onodera official Shinji Nagao told reporters after the auction. “Our wish is that people will eat this and have a wonderful year.”
The Onodera Group paid ¥114mil (RM3.26mil) for the top tuna last year. — AFP
