On Sunday, Michelin-starred sushi restaurateurs the Onodera Group paid ¥207 million ($1.3 million) for a bluefin tuna weighing 276 kilograms. That’s around the same size and weight as a motorbike. It’s the second–highest price ever paid at the annual New Year auction, which takes place at Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo. The Onodera Group has now paid the top price in the Ichiban Tuna auction for five years consecutively. In 2024, the price for the best specimen was a lot lower at ¥114 million.
‘The Freshest Tuna on the Block’
Yamayuki Co., an intermediate wholesale company, put in the winning bid on behalf of the Onodera Group. “It was by far the freshest tuna on the block,” said Yukitaka Yamaguchi, president of Yamayuki, about the fish that was caught off the coast of Oma in Aomori Prefecture. He added, “The situation remains harsh in disaster-hit areas on the Noto Peninsula. We are glad if (the auction outcome) helps lighten up Japan.“
The tuna will be served at the group’s Michelin-starred Ginza Onodera restaurants, in addition to its Nadaman eateries. “The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune,” Onodera official Shinji Nagao told reporters after the auction. “Our wish is that people will eat this and have a wonderful year.”
The Tuna King
Since comparable records began in 1999, the highest price paid at the auction was ¥333.6 million by the self-proclaimed “Tuna King” Kiyoshi Kimura, owner of the Sushi Zanmai national restaurant chain. He paid that price for a 278-kilogram bluefin in 2019. It was the first time the New Year auction was held in Toyosu after moving from Tsukiji. Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, though, the tunas were only able to command a fraction of their usual top prices, as citizens were discouraged from dining out.
