1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
German election 2025Crisis in the Middle EastSyria
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV
BusinessJapan

Japan: Tuna 'as fat as a cow' sells for $1.3 million

January 5, 2025

A titanic 276-kilo bluefin tuna has sold for $1.3 million, the second-highest price on record.

https://p.dw.com/p/4opig
A picture of the 276-kilogram bluefin tuna at the fish market in Tokyo
The 276-kilogram fish was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler YamayukiImage: Issei Kato/REUTERS

In Japan, an enormous bluefin tuna sold for around $1.3 million (€1.26 million) in the first auction of the season at Tokyo's famed fish market according to local media.

Michelin-starred sushi restaurateurs, the Onodera Group said they paid 207 million yen for the 276 kilogram (608 pound) fish.

The 276-kilogram bluefin tuna was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yenor about $1.3 million
'It was as fat as a cow,' said 73-year-old fisherman Masahiro TakeuchiImage: Kyodo/REUTERS

Second-highest selling tuna

Kyodo news agency reported that it was the second-highest amount to be achieved at auction on record.

In 2019, a bluefin tuna fetched the equivalent of $2.1 million — the highest price ever recorded since 1999 when records began.

"It was as fat as a cow," Kyodo quoted 73-year-old fisherman Masahiro Takeuchi as saying.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw new year tunas garner only a fraction of their typical selling prices amid restrictions and fewer people dining out.

The latest big sale has raised hopes Japan will continue to recover from the economic downturn.

General view of buyers during the first new year tuna auction
The first new year tuna auction of the year at Toyosu Market in Tokyo, Japan, on January 5, 2025Image: David Mareuil/Anadolu/picture alliance

kb/wd (dpa, AFP)