‘Tuna King’s record-breaking bid: $3.2M paid for bluefin tuna at Tokyo auction

A Japanese sushi entrepreneur has paid a historic ¥510.3 million ($3.2 million) for a giant bluefin tuna at an annual Tokyo’s first fish auction of 2026, smashing the previous records.

Kyoshi Kimura dubbed as Tuna King, a Japanese sushi tycoon and the president of Kiyomura Corporation bagged the 243-kilogram fish that was caught off Japan’s northern coast.

“I would have thought we would be able to buy a little cheaper, but the price soared before you knew it,” Kimura said at Tokyo’s main fish market during the auction.

"I thought that (the winning bid) would come in a little bit lower, maybe around 400 million or 300 million yen but it turned out to be over 500 million,” Kimura added.

¥510.3 million price at the New Year’s auction is the highest one since 1999. Previously, in 2019, 278-kg bluefin was sold for ¥333.6 million, after the shifting of the fish market from the Tsukiji area to a more modern facility in Toyosu.

Last year, the top bidder paid ¥207 million for a 276-kg bluefin at the auction.

The auction was conducted to improve the tuna stocks which plunged during COVID-19.

According to Dave Gershman at the Pew Charitable Trusts’ international fisheries, the auction reflected the improvement in the stocks of Pacific bluefin after being “near collapse.”

Kiyomura chief Kiyoshi Kimura said, “I hope the economy will get better this year. The Takaichi administration pledged to work, work, work, so Sushizanmai will work, work, work too.”