Tokyo (AFP) - The top-selling tuna at Tokyo's traditional New Year auction sold for more than $270,000 on Thursday, nearly double last year's price, breaking a pandemic trend of slumping demand.
Michelin-starred sushi restaurant Onodera Group and Japanese wholesaler Yamayuki forked out 36.04 million yen ($273,000) for the 212-kilo bluefin tuna in the auction at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market.
The figure was still only a fraction of the 2019 record price but marks a recovery for the symbolic auction after three years in which prices slumped.
"It has all the qualities of a good tuna," sushi master and Onodera head chef Akifumi Sakagami told reporters after the auction.
"We have had years of gloom (during the pandemic).I hope that we can deliver happiness to everyone by using opportunities like this."
Last year's top-selling tuna, bought by the same pair of bidders, went for just 16.88 million yen, with observers blaming subdued demand as a Covid wave ripped through Japan in early 2022.
The New Year auction is highly anticipated, and securing the top-priced tuna offers bidders bragging rights.
For years, the top bid came from self-proclaimed "Tuna King" Kiyoshi Kimura, who paid a record $3.1 million in 2019.
But in recent years, Kimura has held back, citing the pandemic.
