Signs of optimism at the traditional auction earlier in the year, held at 5:10 a.m. at the Tokyo fish market, where a bluefin tuna was bought for just over 114 million yen, the equivalent of 720,000 euros, more than three times the January 2023 estimate The 238-kilogram specimen caught off the coast of Oma Port in northern Aomori Prefecture exceeds last year's price of 36 million yen and represents the highest value in the past 4 years since the end of the health emergency due to the Covid -19 pandemic. Yamayuki food group president Yukitaka Yamaguchi and the head of the company that manages sushi chains Ginza Onodera, both winners with the highest bid, said they were discouraged after an initial reluctance to take part in the auction over the news In light of the January 1st earthquake in mid-western Japan, they decided to send “a signal of optimism to the market and to entrepreneurs in the sector.” However, today's result is a far cry from the record set at the 2019 auction, the first at the new Toyosu fish market after moving from Tsukiji, east of Tokyo, which sold a 278-kilogram tuna for 333.6 million yen was sold, which corresponds to 2.10 million euros.