Tuna sells for $1.8 mln in first Tokyo auction of 2020, second highest ever

A bluefin tuna sold for 193.2 million yen ($1.8 million) in the first auction of the new year at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market, the second-highest price on record, NHK broadcaster reported. The tuna was caught off northern Aomori Prefecture and weighed 276 kilograms (608 lbs), according to NHK, which translates into a price of about 700,000 yen per kilogram.

The successful bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, the head of the company that runs sushi restaurant chain "Sushizanmai," NHK said. Last year Kimura paid a record 333.6 million yen for a tuna at the auction, exceeding his previous record price in 2013.

($1 = 108.0800 yen)