Tokyo (AFP) - A record $3.1 million was paid for a giant tuna on Saturday as Tokyo's new fish market, which replaced the world-famous Tsukiji late last year, held its first pre-dawn New Year's auction.
Bidding stopped at a whopping 333.6 million yen for the enormous 278-kilogramme (612-pound) fish -- an endangered species -- that was caught off Japan's northern coast.
Sushi entrepreneur Kiyoshi Kimura paid the top price, which doubled the previous record of 155 million paid in 2013.
"I bought a good tuna," the self-styled "Tuna King" said after the auction.
"The price was higher than originally thought," he added.
Tsukiji -- the world's biggest fish market and a popular tourist attraction in an area packed with restaurants and shops -- moved in October to Toyosu, a former gas plant a bit further east.
Tsukiji, which opened in 1935, was best known for its pre-dawn daily auctions of tuna, caught from all corners of the ocean, for use by everyone from top Michelin-star sushi chefs to ordinary grocery stores.
Especially at the first auction of the new year, wholesalers and sushi tycoons have been known to pay eye-watering prices for the biggest and best fish.
