Kiyoshi Kimura, president of Kiyomura, the operator of the Sushizanmai sushi restaurant chain in Japan, has expressed his eagerness to buy the "most delicious" tuna in the New Year auction at the Toyosu wholesale market in Tokyo's Koto Ward.

"We want to energize our customers by serving the tastiest tuna at cheap prices," Kimura said in a recent interview, even though his company is struggling financially amid an economic downturn triggered by the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Kiyomura has been a regular winning bidder for the most expensive bluefin tuna at the first auction of the year, held on Jan. 5 every year at Tokyo's main seafood market.

In 2019, the company, based in Tokyo's Chuo Ward, made a successful bid for a 278-kilogram bluefin tuna caught off Oma, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, in the New Year auction at the Toyosu market, at a record 333.6 million yen.

The price was more than double the previous record established by Kiyomura itself in 2013 at the now-defunct Tsukiji market, whose functions were taken over by the Toyosu market in 2018.

Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.