Abe shows off dish of blowfish sashimi

Abe shows off dish of blowfish sashimi

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shows off a large dish of sashimi made from naturally bred "torafugu" blowfish at his office in Tokyo on Feb. 25, 2014. The dish was presented to him by a group of blowfish wholesalers from Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan. Abe is a House of Representatives member representing a constituency in the prefecture.

Ehime fish breeder successfully farms prized 'fugu' blowfish

Ehime fish breeder successfully farms prized 'fugu' blowfish

MATSUYAMA, Japan - Toshiyasu Yoshimura, president of Optima Foods Corp., holds a cultured ''torafugu'' blowfish at his firm in Ainan, Ehime Prefecture, on July 12, 2009.

New millennium's 1st globefish auction held in Shimonoseki

New millennium's 1st globefish auction held in Shimonoseki

SHIMONOSEKI, Japan - Fish brokers stick their hands in a cloth bag, a traditional method of bidding on torafugu globefish, at the year's first auction of the fish at the Haedomari fish market in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Jan. 4. Market officials said the globefish, a kind of puffer fish often served as sashimi, in hot pots and fried, is selling for 23,000 yen per kilogram, down 5,000 yen from a year ago.

New millennium's 1st globefish auction held in Shimonoseki

New millennium's 1st globefish auction held in Shimonoseki

SHIMONOSEKI, Japan - Fish brokers stick their hands in a cloth bag, a traditional method of bidding on torafugu globefish, at the year's first auction of the fish at the Haedomari fish market in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Jan. 4. Market officials said the globefish, a kind of puffer fish often served as sashimi, in hot pots and fried, is selling for 23,000 yen per kilogram, down 5,000 yen from a year ago.