Tuna sells for $1.8 million in first Tokyo auction of 2020, second highest ever

[January 06, 2020]   TOKYO (Reuters) - A bluefin tuna sold for 193.2 million yen ($1.8 million) in the first auction of the new year at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market, the second highest price on record, NHK broadcaster reported.

Kiyoshi Kimura, president of Kiyomura Corp., operator of Japanese sushi chain Sushizanmai, poses with a bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 193 million Japanese yen (about $1.8 million) in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2020. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS

The tuna was caught off northern Aomori Prefecture and weighed 276 kilograms (608 lbs), according to NHK, which translates into a price of about 700,000 yen per kilogram.

The successful bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, the head of the company that runs sushi restaurant chain "Sushizanmai," NHK said.

Last year Kimura paid a record 333.6 million yen for a tuna at the auction, exceeding his previous record price in 2013.

(Reporting by Akiko Okamoto, Writing by Junko Fujita)

[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.