The Japanese treasure the rich red meat of hon-maguro, and a single bluefin tuna can sell for $1.5 million, or $3,000 a pound — as a publicity stunt. This year one sold for “just” $37,500:
A sushi restaurant chain owner paid ¥4.51 million ($37,500) for a 180 kilogram Bluefin tuna at the first auction of the year in Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market.
Kiyoshi Kimura, president of Kiyomura Co., has won the year’s first bid for four consecutive years since 2012. He told reporters Monday after his purchase that it was cheaper than he had expected thanks to a successful haul of tuna near the Tsugaru strait this year.
While $37,500 may seem too much to pay for a fish, it is a bargain compared to what Mr. Kimura had to spend in 2013.
In January 2012, Mr. Kimura won the bid at the first tuna auction of the year for $736,700. He then paid $1.76 million for a 222 kilogram tuna in January 2013, which remains an all-time record.
Somewhere I read that the most he can expect to make off one fish is around $45,000, but after looking at the prices on the Sushi Zanmai nigiri menu I think that’s an overestimate. Maybe he’ll break even on this one.