A Single Tuna Up for Auction Sells for 1 Billion Won... What Kind of Tuna Is It?

238kg Bluefin Tuna Sold for 114.24 Million Yen
First Time Over 100 Million Yen in 4 Years Since 2020

Inside Toyosu Market
Photo by Japan National Tourism Organization

At this year's first tuna auction, a 238kg bluefin tuna (tuna) was sold for over 1 billion yen.

On the 5th, local media including Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported that at the auction held early that morning at Toyosu, a seafood wholesale market in Tokyo, Japan, a 238kg bluefin tuna from Oma, Aomori Prefecture was sold for 114.24 million yen (approximately 1.036 billion KRW). This is more than three times the winning bid of 36.04 million yen (approximately 327 million KRW) at last year's first auction. In 2019, a single bluefin tuna was sold for a record high of 333.6 million yen (about 3.028 billion KRW).

The Toyosu Market, known as the "kitchen of Tokyo," holds the first tuna auction of the new year every January 5th. The most expensive tuna sold at this auction is called the "Ichiban (best) tuna," and there is a superstition that the store that wins the bid will have good luck throughout the year, leading to fierce competition among bidders. Because of this, the tuna auction is also regarded as an indicator of Japan's economic outlook. The higher the winning bid, the more likely the Japanese economy is to show signs of strength.

However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the price of Ichiban tuna dropped significantly. The Ichiban tuna sold for 20.84 million yen (about 189 million KRW) in 2021 and 16.88 million yen (about 153 million KRW) in 2022. But this year, prices have risen again, raising expectations for the revival of Japan's dining-out industry. This is the first time in four years since 2020 that the Ichiban tuna price has exceeded 100 million yen.