A giant Pacific bluefin tuna has fetched 74.2million yens (about $640,000) at the first auction of the year at famous Tsukiji market in Tokyo, Japan; this is the second highest price since the market started keeping records in 1999.
The fish weighed 212 kilograms, according to RIA Novosti news agency of Russia.
The 155.4million yens (about $1.3 million, with the then exchange rate) paid for a bluefin in 2013 is the highest bid ever recorded.
The first auction of tuna is one of the first manifestations of business life in Japan after the New Year holidays. The “direction of the wind” in the country’s economy is determined with the first New Year auction of tuna.