A record $ 3.1 million paid at the New Year tuna auction in the new Japanese market

A Japanese sushi businessman paid a record $ 3.1 million for a giant tuna on Saturday as Tokyo’s new fish market, which replaced the famous Tsukiji late last year, celebrated its first New Year’s auction before dawn.

The tender was halted at 333.6 million yen for the huge 278-kilogram fish (an endangered species) that was caught off the north coast of Japan.

The self-proclaimed “King of Tuna,” Kiyoshi Kimura, paid the maximum price, doubling the previous record of 155 million yen he also paid in 2013.

“It’s the best tuna. I was able to buy a delicious, super fresh tuna,” the owner of the sushi restaurant chain proudly told reporters.

“The price was higher than originally thought, but I hope our customers eat this excellent tuna,” Kimura said after the auction.

Tsukiji, the world’s largest fish market and a popular tourist attraction in an area full of restaurants and shops, moved in October to Toyosu, an old gas plant a little further east.

Opened in 1935, Tsukiji was best known for its daily pre-dawn tuna auctions, caught from all corners of the world, for everyone’s use, from Michelin-starred sushi chefs to regular grocery stores.

Sushi wholesalers and moguls are known to pay impressive prices for the biggest and best fish, especially at the first auction of the new year.

Despite the relocation, the auction ritual remained intact: before dawn, shoppers in rubber boots inspected the quality of the fresh, frozen giant tuna by examining the well-cut tail end with flashlights and rubbing slices between the fingers.

At 5:10 a.m., the bells rang to indicate that the auction was underway and the air was filled with the sound of auctioneers shouting prices at buyers, raising their fingers to indicate interest.

Kimura faced off against a rival in an exciting round-trip for the award-winning tuna, with a mix of spectators roaring loudly as the auctioneer’s hammer went down after Kimura’s winning bid.

‘Black diamond’

Later in the day, sushi chefs cut the giant fish with special Japanese sword-like knives at Kimura’s main restaurant, just outside Tsukiji, where there is demolition work.

Hundreds of sushi lovers lined up for a tasting.

“I’ve come here every year to eat New Year’s sushi, but this tuna is tastier than ever,” Reiko Yamada, a 71-year-old housewife, told AFP.

Japan consumes much of the world’s catch of red pepper, a highly prized sushi ingredient known as “kuro maguro” (black tuna) and known as “black diamond” by sushi connoisseurs for its scarcity.

A single piece of “otoro” or fatty fish belly can cost tens of dollars at Tokyo’s high-end restaurants.

Toyosu’s new market has already opened a balcony that allows visitors to witness the chaos organized before dawn in an attempt to attract tourists who previously visited Tsukiji.

“I sincerely hope this market is loved by many people,” said Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, who attended the sale, with white rubber boots favored by auctioneers.

The relocation of the market was a long and controversial process.

Few would answer the fact that Tsukiji has spent his heyday and there are concerns about obsolete fire regulations and hygiene checks.

In contrast, the new market, located about two kilometers east of Toyosu, has state-of-the-art refrigeration facilities and is almost twice as large as Tsukiji.

But Toyosu is at the site of an old gas plant and the ground was found to be contaminated, forcing local authorities to spend millions of dollars to clean it up and delay the move.

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© 2020 AFP