Huge bluefin tuna fetches record price of $3.2 million at Tokyo auction

A massive 535-pound bluefin tuna sold for a record 510 million yen ($3.2 million) at the first auction of 2026 at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market.

The top bidder for the prized tuna at Monday’s auction 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 334 million yen ($2.1 million) he set in 2019.

Kimura later told reporters that he expected to pay a little less for it, but “the price skyrocketed before you knew it.”

The auction began when the bell rang and the floor was filled with torpedo-shaped fish with their tails cut off so bidders could examine details of the meat such as color, texture and fat as they walked between the rows of tuna.

This expensive fish was caught off the Oma coast of northern Japan, a region widely considered to produce some of the best tuna in the country.

“It’s partly good luck,” Kimura said. “But when I see attractive tuna, I can’t resist… I haven’t tried it yet, but it must be delicious.”

Hundreds of tuna are sold daily at the morning auction, but prices are significantly higher than usual for Oma tuna, especially at the New Year celebration auction.

The huge tuna was brought to Sushizanmai’s headquarters, then sliced ​​and distributed to its restaurants across the country, Reuters news agency reports. The tuna dishes will be sold to customers at their usual price, Kimura said.

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 population is recovering thanks to conservation efforts.