Sunday Times 2
Giant tuna sells for $1.8 million in Japan
View(s):TOKYO, Jan 5 (AFP) -A monster bluefin tuna sold for a record-breaking $1.8 million in the year’s first auction at Japan’s Tsukiji fish market on Saturday, nearly three times the previous high set last year.
Mr Kimura said the bluefin tuna was "a little bit expensive". Reuters)
The 222-kilogram (488-pound) fish, caught off Japan’s northern city of Oma, fetched a winning bid of 155.4 million yen (about $1.8 million), said an official at the Tokyo fish market.
The figure dwarfs the previous high of 56.49 million yen paid at last year’s inaugural auction at Tsukiji, a huge working market that features on many Tokyo tourist itineraries.
Saturday’s winning bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, president of the company that runs the popular Sushi-Zanmai chain, who also won the auction for last year’s record-breaking bluefin.
“I wanted to meet expectations of my customers who said they wanted to eat Japan’s best tuna again this year,” Kimura was quoted by Jiji Press as saying after the intense pre-dawn bidding.
“With this good tuna, I hope to help cheer up Japan,” Kimura said.
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