Some fish swim in universities. Or university-run fish farms, to be exact, and upon graduation they end up as sashimi served over a bed of crushed ice.

This is the fate of the kuro maguro, bluefin tuna reared and harvested by Kinki University in Kansai, which has a satellite restaurant in both Osaka and Tokyo.

On a recent visit to Kinki Daigaku Suisan Kenkyujo's Osaka location, I was seated alongside an upright glass cabinet, next to the kitchen. Inside the cabinet, just above my head, was the severed head of a bluefin tuna. Stacked below it were great hunks of deep-red tuna flesh that were soon to find their way into dishes throughout lunch and dinner.