The Japanese "Tuna King" has a reputation for spending absurd amounts of money on fish.
But this year he outdid himself in spectacular fashion.
And one jaw-dropping bid at Tokyo fish market just made bluefin tuna history.
Sushi chain owner smashes his own record with $3.2 million tuna
Kiyoshi Kimura earned his nickname as Japan's "Tuna King" the hard way – by consistently paying more for bluefin tuna at Tokyo's prestigious New Year's auction than anyone else would dare.
The owner of the Sushizanmai restaurant chain has won the bidding war at the annual Toyosu Market auction eight times in the past nine years.
But on Monday, January 5, 2026, Kimura blew past every previous record – including his own – when he paid a staggering 510.3 million yen for a single 535-pound bluefin tuna.¹
That's $3.2 million for one fish.
The massive Pacific bluefin was caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan, a region famous for producing the finest tuna in the world.
Kimura's winning bid came to roughly 2.1 million yen per kilogram – or about $6,060 per pound.²
The previous record holder?
Also Kimura.
He paid 333.6 million yen ($2.1 million) for a 613-pound bluefin back in 2019 at the first New Year's auction held at the new Toyosu Market after it moved from the old Tsukiji location.³
"I thought that (the winning bid) would come in a little bit lower, maybe around 400 million or 300 million yen, but it turned out to be over 500 million," Kimura told reporters after Monday's auction.⁴
"The price shot up before you knew it."
Part publicity stunt, part national tradition
The annual New Year's auction at Tokyo's Toyosu Market isn't your typical fish market sale.
It's become a massive media spectacle where Japan's top sushi restaurant chains compete to win the first bluefin of the year.
Hundreds of torpedo-shaped fish with their tails cut off line the auction floor so bidders can examine the color, texture, and fattiness of the meat.
When the bell rings at 5:10 a.m., the floor erupts into organized chaos as bidders shout and use hand signals to indicate their prices.
Average bluefin typically sells for 8,000 to 10,000 yen per kilogram at these daily auctions.
But the celebratory New Year's auction – especially for premium Oma tuna – sends prices skyrocketing.
Kimura was honest about his motivations.
"It's in part for good luck," he explained. "But when I see a good looking tuna, I cannot resist… I haven't sampled it yet, but it's got to be delicious."⁵
The publicity doesn't hurt either.
After the auction, the record-breaking fish was taken to Sushizanmai's flagship restaurant, cut up, and distributed to locations across Japan.
Here's the kicker – Kimura serves the million-dollar tuna to regular customers at standard menu prices.
He's not trying to recoup his investment through premium pricing.
The marketing value of the headlines alone makes it worth every yen.
"I hope this bid will cheer everyone up," Kimura said, adding that he hopes "the economy will get better this year."⁶
Last year's winning fisherman, 73-year-old Masahiro Takeuchi from the same Oma region, captured the spirit of these auctions when he told Japanese media he was "unbelievably happy" after his tuna sold for $1.3 million.⁷
"I'm always worried about how many more years I'll be able to keep fishing like this," Takeuchi said.
Conservation success story creates market opportunity
Here's what makes this story even more remarkable.
Pacific bluefin tuna were on the brink of collapse just over a decade ago.
By 2016, scientists estimated that only 2.6% of the original Pacific bluefin population remained – a catastrophic 97.4% decline.⁸
The species came dangerously close to being listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
But something unexpected happened.
International cooperation between the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission imposed strict catch limits starting in 2011.
The regulations focused on reducing catches of juvenile fish, allowing more bluefin to reach maturity and reproduce.
The strategy worked.
The Pacific bluefin population exceeded international rebuilding targets a full decade ahead of schedule.⁹
By 2021, the International Scientific Committee confirmed the species had reached its second rebuilding target.
Atlantic bluefin did even better – the IUCN Red List moved it from "Endangered" to "Least Concern" status in 2021.¹⁰
NOAA Fisheries announced in 2024 that Pacific bluefin tuna quotas would increase by 80% for 2025-2026, jumping from 1,017 metric tons to 1,822 metric tons.¹¹
"We rebuilt the stock as a result of stringent management measures put in place on both sides of the Pacific," said Ryan Wulff, Assistant Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region.¹²
Translation: The fishing industry sacrificed for years under tight restrictions, but the conservation measures actually worked.
The species recovered.
Now fishermen and restaurant owners like Kimura can benefit from sustainable harvests that were unthinkable just 15 years ago.
Here's where it gets interesting.
The Center for Biological Diversity is still running their "Bluefin Tuna Boycott" campaign right now.¹³
The species recovered.
The science proved it.
But they're still begging for donations claiming bluefin are dying out.
Turns out it's hard to give up a good fundraising pitch just because the facts changed.
But Kimura's record-breaking bid proves the market recognizes what the science already confirmed – Pacific bluefin tuna came back from the edge of extinction through effective management and international cooperation.
The "Tuna King" just bet $3.2 million that this conservation success story will continue.
¹ Louise Delmotte and Kim Kyung-Hoon, "Massive bluefin tuna fetches record $3.2 million at Tokyo auction," CBS News, January 5, 2026.
² Fox Business, "Japanese sushi chain pays $3.24 million for bluefin tuna at Tokyo auction," January 5, 2026.
³ The Japan Times, "'Tuna King' pays record ¥510.3 million for bluefin at Tokyo auction," January 5, 2026.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Fox Business, "Japanese sushi chain pays $3.24 million for bluefin tuna at Tokyo auction," January 5, 2026.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ CNN, "Bluefin tuna fetches more than $1 million at Japan's Toyosu fish market auction," January 6, 2025.
⁸ Aquamarine Power, "The Unfortunate History of the Endangered Tuna," August 28, 2025.
⁹ NOAA Fisheries, "From Overfished to Sustainable Harvests: Pacific Bluefin Tuna Rebound to New Highs," 2024.
¹⁰ Sustainable Fisheries UW, "Bluefin Tuna in 2024 – is it time to change our perspective?" August 22, 2024.
¹¹ National Fisherman, "Pacific bluefin tuna quotas soar by 80 percent in 2025," October 10, 2024.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Sustainable Fisheries UW, "Bluefin Tuna in 2024 – is it time to change our perspective?" August 22, 2024.
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