A Gigantic 536-Pound Bluefin Tuna Just Sold for a Record $3.2 Million

History has been made at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market.

A gigantic bluefin tuna sold for 510 million yen (about $3.24 million at the current exchange rate) in the ceremonial first auction of the new year on Monday, setting a new world record in the process.

The prized fish, which was caught off Oma in northern Aomori prefecture, weighed in at a hefty 536 pounds (243 kilograms). Oma’s bluefin tuna, nicknamed “black diamonds” on account of their rarity and price, are routinely snapped up by the country’s top chefs. This particular catch went to Kiyomura Corp, the Tokyo-based operator of popular sushi restaurant chain Sushizanmai, according to Reuters.

Kiyomura president Kiyoshi Kimura, who refers to himself as the “Tuna King,” has won the annual action many times in the past. He paid 56.5 million yen (about $360,600) for a bluefin tuna in 2012 and 155 million yen ($989,000) in 2013, setting records both times. He made history again in 2019, forking out 333.6 million yen ($2.1 million) for another huge bluefin.

The Tuna King did, however, briefly lose his crown. The Onodera Group, the owner of the luxe Sushi Ginza Onodera chain, has been the top bidder at the yearly auction for the past few years. It paid a relatively modest 207 million yen ($1.3 million) for the first tuna at the auction last year, stating that it would serve the fish at its restaurants throughout the country. (The Ginza location currently holds one Michelin star.)

The Tuna King took back his crown during Monday’s buzzy pre-dawn sale, eclipsing his own record from 2019 by hundreds of thousands.”I thought that [the winning bid] would come in a little bit lower, maybe around 400 million or 300 million yen, but it turned out to be over 500 million,” Kimura told reporters. The price offered for the tuna this year suggests that Japan has fully recovered from the pandemic, with more locals and tourists frequenting restaurants across the country. (Auction prices were at their lowest during the pandemic, as strict lockdowns and travel restrictions wreaked havoc on the restaurant industry.)

After the auction, which started around 5 a.m. local time, the giant tuna was transported to Sushizanmai’s head branch. It was then sliced up and distributed to its restaurants nationwide. The tuna dishes will be sold to diners at the usual price, Kimura said.