{"id":14711,"date":"2013-01-05T03:01:25","date_gmt":"2013-01-05T03:01:25","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2013-01-05T03:01:25","modified_gmt":"2013-01-05T03:01:25","slug":"Bluefin-tuna-sells-for-record-1-76-million-in-Japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=14711","title":{"rendered":"Bluefin tuna sells for record $1.76 million in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japan was abuzz after a prized bluefin tuna weighing 489 pounds was sold for a record $1.76 million at the first auction of the year at Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market yesterday.<\/strong> Kiyoshi Kimura, who is president of Kiyomura Co. and the Sushi-Zanmai sushi restaurant chain, bought the massive fish at $3,600 per pound. <\/p>\n

Remarkably, the price paid by Kimura was well more than twice the amount he paid last year for a larger bluefin tuna.<\/strong> The 593-pound tuna Kimura purchased a year ago cost him $736,000, or roughly four times the U.S. median price for existing homes. What’s next, a $2 million tuna?<\/p>\n

The Associated Press reported that Kimura said “the price was a bit high,” but that he wanted to “encourage Japan”<\/strong>, according to the Kyodo News agency.<\/p>\n

Watch as Kimura escorts the fish to his restaurant amid a horde of media before cutting it up and serving the sushi-starved patrons:<\/p>\n