Japan's 'Tuna King' wins annual auction for Y74.2 mil

74m yen to contribute to the extinction of tuna? Well done.

For a tuna, it's not that big. If they keep fishing away the juveniles there's going to be nothing left

Kimura has built his successful chain into a national brand by paying big money at Tsukiji’s first auction every year—he has now won for six straight years—essentially using the event for publicity.

He built the chain NOT because of "paying big money" at the auction. He built the chain into what it is by having a smart business plan and sticking with it.

He can't get better advertising than this, and it's partially a tax write off anyway.

Get it right, writers!

Madness! £2500 per kilo, can any body afford this??

Kiyoshi Kimura can.

Actually, in world where so many are in need I find this ego driven purchase of a single fish quite obscene. Imagine how much better this money could have been spent on sustainable fishing in undeveloped regions..

That's some expensive tuna @ $3 per gram, six times the price of silver

Extreme of shamelessness.Poor beautiful creature!!

"Only after the last tree has been cut down and the last fish has been eaten will man realise he cannot eat money!"

That fish cost twice as much as my condo!

@Yubaru, I bought about 15 years ago when condos here in Shinjuku weren't so expensive. NOW it would cost maybe 3/4 the cost of that fish, but not as much as the fish. How much of that money did the fisherman who caught the fish get?

@GW NHK interviewed him on the evening news, but they didn't say how much money he got. Still, I'd like to know how that works. Maybe I'll become a fisherman. I could retire with 74 million yen!

Last line in this article is the most important, that Koike san is maintaining the possibility of not moving the market at all. To me, this seems like the best solution. Rebuild it in place. By the time that finishes, blue tuna will be nearly extinct and some other fish will be the main attraction, I suppose.

An obscene amount of money to pay for fish！

For some, there is no recession......

printing stories like this should be enough to make bluefin tuna EXTICT THIS YEAR!!!

Good point Gokai, I wanna see the face of the fishermen that caught this fish, how about jt, track them down!

Caught a bit on the news where they are complaining they cant catch many tuna as there aren't enough squid around for them to eat................

I wouldn't be betting on tuna being around much longer in any quantity & SIZE.

“I feel it was a bit expensive, but I am happy that I was able to successfully win at auction a tuna of good shape and size,”

Haha! Nice attempt at translating‥……

c'mon now, there's probably a dozen middlemen that get their cut

Yeah I don't know the market exactly. I know there is the general market, and a more specialized market vendor after that where only the best choice cuts are sold. Special chefs and high end restaurants patron special vendors, so that's at least two levels. But I don't know if there are more than that or how the catch finances are distributed.

Keep the existing market is a good idea considering the tuna is supposed to collapse or needs to be under moratorium to prevent it from happening. Size of the market place helps limit the processing amounts.

The whole point of expanding is to process more fish but if there is no fish to process then the smaller market was the sustainable choice.

Must be nice to have that kind of money to buy a FISH, I could buy at least three houses with that kind of money!

"Hatsu-seri" (The First Fish Auction of the Year) is a biggest ritual for the entire fish industries. It's like a Super Bowl for them. A pride of being a champion in a special ritual and a business exposure to media, these are what he gets with the money.

Am I the only one who thinks this is not a bona fide transaction? I'm sure the money changes hands, but it wouldn't surprise me if the unspoken tradition of the fishmarket dictates that the seller should give the buyer some free fish as a sort of 'thank you' gift for his generous bid (amounting to tens of millions of yen, of course). I think it's about as real as sumo or the Japanese Beethoven.

c'mon now, there's probably a dozen middlemen that get their cut

I admit, I don't know the details of how it works whatsoever, but usually a fish market has only the single middleman - the vendor at the market. The boats sell to the vendors, the vendors sell to the customers. If the customer re-sells it after that they become a middleman, but for restaurants who are purchasing themselves, I think the only middleman is the vendor.

Maybe someone can come along with the actual knowledge of how it works here though.

this explains why Japanese chains and companies suddenly disappear.

He built the chain NOT because of "paying big money" at the auction. He built the chain into what it is by having a smart business plan and sticking with it.

The problem is, these are threatened species. So we wait for them to become endangered before we take action?

It is his money But tuna was. not considered delicacy cat food. .

That fish cost twice as much as my condo!

Cheap condo here in Japan! My house and the land it sits on is worth more than that "fish"!