Spending millions in the fish market is a sort of tradition for this Japanese entrepreneur, but this time he has outdone himself, setting a new record and splashing a whopping $3.1 million on a giant bluefin tuna.
Fish tycoon Kiyoshi Kimura, who runs the popular Sushi Zanmai chain, left the annual New Year’s seafood auction on Saturday with most expensive fish in the world.
To land the enormous catch, the self-styled ‘Tuna King’ had to pay the hefty sum of 333.6 million yen ($3.1 million) for the 278kg bluefin tuna, which was caught off Japan’s northern prefecture of Aomari.
The fish’s price tag is the equivalent of nearly 70kg of gold or a three-bed apartment in Manhattan, but Kiyoshi Kimura believes it’s worth every cent as he’s eager to serve his clients.
“I was able to buy a delicious, super fresh tuna,” the sushi chain owner said after the auction, as quoted by media. “The price was higher than originally thought, but I hope our customers will eat this excellent tuna.”
The previous all-time record was also set by Kimura six years ago, when he paid 155.4 million yen (about $1.8 million) for a 222kg bluefin tuna. This year, the tycoon took back his crown as the highest bidder at the annual fish market, which he held for seven years in a row, before Yukitaka Yamaguchi, head of wholesaler Yamayuki Group, borrowed it last year.
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