Early on January 5, 2026, a purple sea urchin from Hakodate, Hokkaido, sold for 35 million yen at the New Year auction at Tokyo's Toyosu Market, the highest price on record for uni. It weighed 400 grams, which works out to about 87,500 yen per gram, roughly $570.

The previous year's top urchin went for 7 million yen, so this was a fivefold jump. The winning bid came from a joint team: Naomitsu Yasuda of the Nakameguro sushi restaurant Sushi Takamitsu, Beyond Tsukiji Holdings, which runs the uni specialist Uni Tora, and the wholesaler Yamaharu. Sushi Takamitsu and Beyond Tsukiji Holdings had formed a business alliance in November 2025, and this was their first auction together.

Presented in an Echizen Lacquer Box

The urchin was displayed in a box made specially in Echizen lacquerware, a traditional craft of Fukui Prefecture. The 7 million yen paid the previous year also included the lacquer box.

Per kilogram the price comes to roughly 87.5 million yen. The Oma bluefin that sold the same morning for a record 510.3 million yen worked out to 2.1 million yen per kilogram, so by weight the uni went for about 41 times as much.

A $6,500 Bowl and a $10,000 Course

That evening the urchin was served at Sushi Takamitsu to sixteen guests, as one course in a 1.5 million yen tasting menu, about $10,000. From January 6 it appeared at Uni Tora's main store in Tsukiji as the "first auction uni bowl," 1 million yen before tax, roughly $6,500, limited to five servings.

The restaurant made news the year before as well. Uni bought at 7 million yen through Yamaharu was served at 400,000 yen a piece and recognized by Guinness World Records as the most expensive sea urchin sold at auction.

Twenty-Three Times in Two Years

In 2024 the top urchin at the New Year auction fetched 1.5 million yen. Two years later the figure had multiplied roughly twenty-three fold.

Japan has long treated hatsumono, the first of anything in season, as auspicious, and the first goods traded in the new year carry weight beyond their market value. Taking the top lot is a wish for a prosperous year, the coverage that follows raises a restaurant's profile, and the bid doubles as a gesture of respect toward producers.

The three bidders framed their joint entry in similar terms: using the auction to carry the value of uni to audiences at home and abroad, returning fair prices to fishermen and producers in the interest of a sustainable industry, and widening the market through high-value products.

Why Uni Prices Keep Climbing

Strip out the ceremonial premium and Japanese uni is still getting more expensive.

On the environmental side, rising sea temperatures have worsened isoyake, the barren grounds left when kelp and other seaweed disappear, cutting into what urchins feed on. The large red tide that hit eastern Hokkaido in 2021 left damage behind as well. Ezo bafun uni, which prefers cold water, has been hit hardest, and catches have fallen.

On the market side, domestic supply is thinner while inbound tourism has pushed up demand for premium seafood. The weak yen has raised the cost of imported urchin from Russia and elsewhere.

Tuna Set a Record the Same Morning

At the same January 5 auction, a Pacific bluefin from Oma in Aomori Prefecture sold for a record 510.3 million yen. Kiyomura, which operates Sushi Zanmai, took the top tuna for the first time in six years. It was the first year that both tuna and uni set records at once.

Where Japan Sits in the Global Uni Market

Most of the world's sea urchin harvest is said to be shipped toward Japan, by far the largest consumer. Outside Japan, urchin is eaten around the Mediterranean in France, Italy and Spain, and in South America in Chile and Peru.

Eating it raw, as sashimi or on sushi, is largely a Japanese habit. In most other places it is cooked, folded into pasta sauces or soups.

Do people eat sea urchin where you live? If so, in what dish? And what do you make of a 35 million yen price tag? We would like to know.

References