Tsukiji fish market holds last start-of-year auction

TOKYO (Kyodo) - Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market held its last start-of-the-year auction Tuesday ahead of its relocation scheduled for late 2016.

The aging market is set to be replaced by a new fish and greengrocery wholesale market opening in Tokyo's Toyosu area in November.

A bluefin tuna fetched 14 million yen (about S$167,000), or 70,000 yen per kilogram, at the auction. The winning bidder for the 200-kg tuna from Oma, Aomori Prefecture, was Tokyo-based sushi restaurant chain operator Kiyomura Co., which also made a successful bid on the same occasion last year.

The price of the tuna the preceding two years had settled at 4.51 million yen and 7.36 million yen, against an all-time high of 155.4 million yen in 2013, which was also paid by Kiyomura.

The Tsukiji market, one of the biggest fish markets in the world, was built in 1935. Its tuna auctions have become a major tourist attraction in recent years.

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