The most expensive huge bluefin tuna sold on the first day of business in 2024 at Tokyo’s largest fish market, the cost of the bluefin is 114.2 million ($788,440) in an auction for what is considered an auspicious fish that has become a New Year’s ritual.
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Who bought the bluefin fish?
The tuna weighed 238 kilos and was sold on Friday to seafood wholesaler Yamayuki and sushi chain operator Onodera Group, a team that has won the top fish for four years in a row.
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According to Hiroki Matsushita, a fish market spokesman, the price of the gigantic tuna was more than three times the amount offered last year in the sale at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market, and the fourth highest since records began in 1999. “If we were going to do it, we wanted to win,” Yukitaka Yamaguchi, president of Yamayuki, stated over the phone while cutting the fish.
Why did the price of tuna rise?
The prized tuna taken off the coast of Aomori Prefecture will be served at the Michelin-starred sushi restaurant Onodera in Tokyo’s posh Ginza neighborhood. The price of tuna has risen to its greatest level since the COVID-19 pandemic. It comes several months after virus restrictions were dropped and at a time when eateries are overflowing.
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of international visitors to Japan has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, surpassing 2 million for six consecutive months. Still, domestic demand is shaky, as the country had its sharpest fall in GDP since the pandemic in the third quarter. The price of tuna this year is still much below the 2019 high of 333.6 million.
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