A 243kg bluefin tuna sold for a record JPY 510.3 million (US$3.2 million) at this year’s first tuna auction on Tokyo’s Toyosu Fish Market, far exceeding the JPY 207 paid for the first prized fish at last year’s auction.

Sushizanmai tuna 2026

Sushizanmai tuna 2026

Source: Sushizanmai

Kiyomura Corp, parent company of Sushizanmai, secured the top prize at 2026’s annual New Year’s auction at Tokyo’s Toyosu Fish Market

The fish, which was caught off the coast of Oma in the northeastern prefecture of Aomori, was bought by Kiyomura Corp Group, the Tokyo-based operator of sushi restaurant chain Sushizanmai.

The tuna is being distributed by Sushizanmai to its restaurants nationwide and in overseas markets. 

“We wanted to start the year with a bang and provide the best possible tuna to our customers,” Sushizanmai President Kiyoshi Kimura said following the auction. 

The previous record for the first bluefin of the New Year was set in 2019, when a fish fetched JPY 333.6 million.

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