Oma Tuna Sells for 193 M. Yen in New Year Auction at Toyosu

January 5, 2020

Tokyo- A 276-kilogram bluefin tuna caught off Oma, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, sold for 193.2 million yen in the New Year auction at Tokyo's Toyosu wholesale market on Sunday.

The price is second only to last year's successful bid of some 330 million yen. Waters off Oma are one of the best tuna fishing grounds in the country.

The auction, the first since Japan's Imperial era changed from Heisei to Reiwa in May last year, started at 5:10 a.m. (8:10 p.m. Saturday GMT) with a ring of bell.

Seventy-two wild bluefin tuna from across Japan were put up for auction, up 13 from last year. The most popular fish fetched 700,000 yen per kilogram.

As in last year's auction, the winning bidder was Kiyomura, which operates the Sushizanmai sushi restaurant chain. "We hope customers will have lots of tasty tuna," Kiyoshi Kimura, president of the company, said.

In the auction, yellowtail and bonito from Toyama Prefecture, central Japan, also sold for high prices due to short supply.

Fifteen months have passed since the market relocated from Tsukiji in Chuo Ward to Toyosu in Koto Ward.

In an address at the auction, an executive of a wholesaler said, "We want to create a new market model at Toyosu by making much of our experience and tradition at Tsukiji." Jiji Press