A bluefin tuna was sold for nearly €1.3 million in Japan on Sunday during the traditional New Year’s tuna auction in Tokyo.
The prestigious Michelin-starred sushi restaurateur Onodera Group paid 207 million yen (about €1.28 million) for the 276-kilogram fish, caught in Oma, Aomori Province (north).
“The first tuna is supposed to bring good fortune,” Shinji Nagao, General Manager of Onodera, told journalists after the auction.
“Our wish is for people to eat it and have a wonderful year,” he added.
Last year, the restaurateur spent nearly half as much (114 million yen) on a bluefin tuna.
The record sum remains 333.6 million yen (approximately €2.7 million at the time) for a 278-kilogram fish in 2019.
This amount was paid by the self-proclaimed “Tuna King” Kiyoshi Kimura, who has long dominated this symbolic event in Japan.