Onodera Group paid $1.3m for 276kg tuna at Tokyo's first auction of the year

Michelin-starred sushi restaurateurs paid second highest price ever at annual new year auction at Tokyo’s main fish market.

Onodera Group, the top bidder at a Tokyo fish market, has paid $1.3m (207m yen) for a 276kg bluefin tuna, the second highest price ever paid at an annual prestigious new year auction. The powerful buyers have paid the top price for five years straight.

“The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune,” Onodera official Shinji Nagao told reporters after the auction. “Our wish is that people will eat this and have a wonderful year.”

The highest ever auction price was 333.6m yen for a 278kg bluefin tuna in 2019. The record bid was made by self-proclaimed “Tuna King” Kiyoshi Kimura, who operates the Sushi Zanmai national restaurant chain.