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A bulky bluefin tuna made a splash at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market on Monday morning, fetching a record 510.3 million yen ($3.2m; \u00a32.4m) at the market’s first auction of the year.<\/p>\n
The winning bid for the 243kg fish came from Kiyomura Corp, the operator of popular sushi chain Sushi Zanmai, which has outlets across the country and abroad.<\/p>\n
“The year’s first tuna brings good luck,” said Kiyoshi Kimura, the company’s president and a familiar figure at the annual new year’s auction, Kyodo reported.<\/p>\n
Mr Kimura, who has been dubbed the Tuna King, is known to bid high for bluefin tuna at new year’s auctions. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The entrepreneur told reporters after the auction that he was “surprised at the price”, AFP reported.<\/p>\n
“I’d thought we would be able to buy a little cheaper, but the price soared before you knew it,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Kimura paid 56.5 million yen for a bluefin tuna in 2012<\/a> and 155 million yen in 2013<\/a> – setting record prices both times.<\/p>\n In 2019<\/a> he bought a bluefin tuna with 333.6 million yen ($2.1m; \u00a31.6m) – another historic price.<\/p>\n Despite telling reporters at the time that he thought he “did too much”, however, Mr Kimura has now gone on to break his own record again.<\/p>\n The first auction at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market typically sees fish selling for exorbitant prices.<\/p>\n