Tottori, Japan

A Matsuba crab sold for a record high of 5 million yen in this season’s first auction for the major winter delicacy, held at Tottori Port in the western Japan city of Tottori on Thursday, stirring excitement among participants.

A total of five Matsuba crabs certified for the highest-quality brand of “Itsukiboshi” were unloaded at the port on the day. Matsuba crab is the local name of male snow crab caught off the Sanin western Japan region on the Sea of Japan side, including Tottori Prefecture.

In last season’s first auction for Matsuba crabs, the highest successful price was 2 million yen. The crab that fetched the price was recognized as “the most expensive crab sold at auction” by Guinness World Records.

The 5-million-yen crab “probably set a new world record,” an official at the Tottori prefectural government’s fisheries department said. “We’ll consider applying for Guinness certification.”

The buyer of the crab is Kanemasa Hamashita Shoten, a fish retailer in the city of Tottori, which was also the successful bidder for the 2-million-yen crab in the first auction of the last season. “It’s full of meat and the best,” President Tetsuji Hamashita, 49, said.

Noting that the fish retailer received a Matsuba crab order from a Japanese restaurant in Tokyo’s Ginza upscale district, Hamashita said he was determined to win the auction “at the highest price.”

Jiji Press