A huge tuna sold for 193.2 million yen ($1.8 million) in the first auction of the new year at Tokyo's fish market.
According to Reuters, the Bluefin tuna was caught off northern Aomori Prefecture and weighed 276 kilograms, which translates into a price of about 700,000 yen per kilogram.
The successful bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, the head of the company that runs sushi restaurant chain "Sushizanmai," the Japanese TV NHK said. Last year Kimura paid a record 333.6 million yen for a tuna at the auction, exceeding his previous record price in 2013.
"I am even more happy as this was the first auction in Reiwa," said Kimura, referring to the new imperial era that commenced in May.
"Even though the fish was 'expensive,' we are keen to make the winning bid so we could serve the best tuna to our customers," he added.
The fish was caught off Oma, located in the northern side of the Honshu Island, one of the best tuna fishing regions in the country. This was the second highest price paid for tuna in Japan, since the authorities began registering records in 1999.
The highest record price for a tuna was at an auction last year, when Kimura paid 6.333 million yen ($1.3 million) for a 278 kg tuna, the German news agency reported.
It is reported that Japanese are among the biggest bluefin tuna consumers in the world, and the exaggerated fishing of this species has caused worldwide criticism of Japan.
