Giant tuna is sold for record $736,000

The bluefin tuna smashed the previous record set last year of 32.49m yen.

A bluefin tuna has been sold at a Tokyo market for nearly three-quarters of a million dollars, the most ever paid for a single fish. The 269kg tuna was bought by a local restaurant owner.

Reporter

Roland Buerk

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The first auction of the New Year at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market is always closely watched - high prices are a tradition.

But when the bidding was over the bluefin tuna had become the most expensive fish in history - 56.49m yen, nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.

It smashed the previous record set last year of 32.49m yen.

The buyer was the owner of a chain of sushi restaurants. He said he wanted to liven up Japan and help the nation recover from last year's earthquake and tsunami.

The fish was caught off Aomori, just north of the coast battered by the disaster.

At 269kg it's a giant. But even so when cut up into sushi each mouthful works out at 5,000 yen, more than $65.

The restaurant chain though will sell it for its usual tuna prices, between $1.60 and $5.40 per piece, depending on the cut.

Roland Buerk, BBC News, Tokyo

Vocabulary

Klik Listen to the words

auction: lelang

closely watched: diikuti dengan seksama

the bidding: pengajuan tawaran

smashed: memecahkan

a chain: jaringan

to liven up: membuat gembira

recover: pulih

battered by: dihantam, terkena

mouthful: sekali telan

works out at: berharga, setara dengan