Tuna the size of a motorcycle sold to sushi restaurants in Tokyo for $1.3 million

Sushi restaurateurs in Tokyo say they paid ¥207m ($1.3m; £1m) for a bluefin tuna the size and weight of a motorcycle.

The sale is the second highest price ever paid at the annual New Year auction at the Toyosu Fish Market in the Japanese capital.

Onodera Group, which had the winning bid, said the tuna – which weighs 276kg (608lb) – will be served at its Michelin-starred Ginza Onodera restaurants as well as Nadaman restaurants nationwide.

“The first tuna is something meant to bring good luck,” Onodera’s Shinji Nagao told reporters after the auction, AFP reported.

Mr Nagao added that he hoped people would eat the tuna – caught from the Aomori region in northern Japan – and “have a wonderful year”.

The group has paid the highest price at the Ichiban tuna auction for five consecutive years.

Last year, he shelled out ¥114 million for the best tuna.

The highest auction price since comparable records began in 1999. was ¥333.6 million in 2019. for 278 kg redfin.

It was paid by the self-proclaimed Japanese “Tuna King” and sushi restaurant owner Kiyoshi Kimura.

The Toyosu Fish Market, opened in 1935, is said to be the largest fish market in the world and is famous for its daily pre-dawn tuna auctions.

But tuna wasn’t the only catch on offer on Sunday, with Hokkaido sea urchins also fetching a record ¥7 million, according to the Japan Times.