An employee poses with a newly-purchased tuna at a Sushizanmai restaurant, operated by Kiyomura Corp., in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020.
Toru Hanai | Bloomberg
A bluefin tuna sold for 193.2 million yen ($1.8 million) in the first auction of the new year at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market, the second highest price on record, NHK broadcaster reported.
The tuna was caught off northern Aomori Prefecture and weighed 276 kilograms (608 lbs), according to NHK, which translates into a price of about 700,000 yen per kilogram.
The successful bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, the head of the company that runs sushi restaurant chain "Sushizanmai," NHK said.
Last year, Kimura paid a record 333.6 million yen for a tuna at the auction, exceeding his previous record price in 2013.