A very expensive Japanese fish is a tuna for which the Japanese sushi chain Kiyomura K.K. paid 56 million yen ($730,000) at this year's first auction held at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market. This was the most expensive fish that was ever sold at the market, and Kiyomura K.K. will take a huge $600,000 loss by charging just $5 for each of the 10,000 pieces of sushi that were carved out of the tuna. These pieces would have had to be sold for $74 each in order for the chain to break even (the normal selling prices of between 134 and 425 yen instead of the needed 5,649 yen).
Why did Kiyomura K.K. do this? A spokesman for the chain said that foreign companies have outbid the chain for the past three years, and they want to provide the locals with good tuna at a proper price.
The Japanese consume an average of 56.7 kilograms (128 pounds) of fish per capita, much more than other developed countries with their average of 17.1 kilograms. Fish makes up 23 percent of the protein in their daily diet whereas in the United States fish is only four percent.
One of Japan's most popular attractions is the Tsukiji fish market, which is the huge size of 43 football fields. Approximately 500 visitors go there at about 4 a.m. every day to see the tuna auctions and watch buyers who later have the fish sliced with long carbon-steel knives. The stalls also sell red octopus, giant crabs, and blow fish that has to be prepared properly in order not to be deadly.
