A bluefin tuna that tipped the scales at 593 pounds netted 56.49 million yen ($736,000) at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market on Thursday, according to The Washington Post. That works out to $1,238 a pound.
It puts the price of a spicy tuna roll into perspective. Toro, or fatty bluefin, fetches about $24 a slice in Tokyo's upscale sushi restaurants, according to the report.
The record price was as much a reflection of excitement at the year's first fish auction as of the tuna's undoubtedly high quality.
Kiyoshi Kimura, president of a restaurant chain, shelled out for the fish both as a morale boost to his fellow Japanese and to keep it from being taken overseas.
"Japan has been through a lot the last year due to the (tsunami) disaster," he told AP Television News. "Japan needs to hang in there. So I tried hard myself and ended up buying the most expensive one."
The fish was caught off Aomori prefecture, just north of where the tsunami struck the coast.
