Huge Bluefin Tuna Sells for Record $3.2 Million at Tokyo Market

A massive 535-pound bluefin tuna sold for a record ¥510 million ($3.2 million) at the first auction of 2026 at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Kimura, who has won the annual auction many times in the past, broke the previous record of ¥334 million ($2.1 million) that he set in 2019. (Photo: The Toys Shijou)

The top bidder at the predawn auction was Kiyomura Corp., whose owner, Kiyoshi Kimura, runs the popular Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain. Kimura, who has won the annual auction many times in the past, broke the previous record of ¥334 million ($2.1 million) that he set in 2019.

Kimura later told reporters he had hoped to pay a bit less, but “the price shot up before you knew it.”

The auction began with the ringing of a bell, and the market floor was filled with torpedo-shaped fish with their tails cut off so bidders could examine details such as color, texture, and fattiness while walking among rows of tuna.

The fish was caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan, a region widely regarded for producing some of the country’s finest tuna.

The purchase price worked out to about ¥2.1 million ($13,360) per kilogram, or roughly $6,060 per pound.

“It’s in part for good luck,” Kimura said. “But when I see a good-looking tuna, I cannot resist. I haven’t sampled it yet, but it’s got to be delicious,” NBC News also reported.