Cool $1.76M Paid for Bluefin Tuna by Japanese Sushi Chain
Nathan Andrada

Tokyo, Japan

A record of $1.76 million was paid for a bluefin tuna by Kiyomura K.K., a Tokyo-based sushi chain.

According to internet news the tuna weighed 222 kilograms (489 pounds) at the market's first auction of 2013 on January 4.

Kiyomura last year paid $56 million yen at last year's tuna auction. The sushi chain is said to charge 128 yen per serving.

The auction transpired at Tsukiji, the world's largest fish market with bidders arriving by 3:30 a.m.,

The bluefin, was caught off the coast of Japan's northeastern Aomori prefecture and will result in about 10,000 pieces of sushi.

Japanese eat more fish per capita than any other developed country, consuming about 56.7 kilograms (128 pounds) annually, compared with a global average of 17.1 kilograms, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

A monster bluefin tuna sells for a record-breaking 1.76 million USD in the year's first auction at Japan's Tsukiji fish market, nearly three times the previous high set last year