On Day of Ox, People Eat Grilled Eel to Beat Summer Heat; Higher Rice, Fuel Prices Counteract Lower Eel Prices

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:50 JST, July 19, 2025

SAITAMA — People flocked to specialty restaurants, supermarkets and department stores for kabayaki grilled eel in order to beat the summer heat on Saturday.

On the Day of the Ox, which falls on July 19 and 31 this summer, grilled eel is traditionally eaten. At Yamazakiya, a restaurant specializing in eel in Saitama City’s Urawa Ward, chefs began grilling eel before opening and were expected to cook about 500 eels that day.

According to the Fisheries Agency, 14.8 tons of Japanese eel larvae were caught for farming purposes in Japan in the season, which began in November, double the previous season. The purchase price of the larvae for breeders was around ¥1.3 million per kilogram, half the previous season.

Many of the eels to be raised in farms this season will only begin to be circulated from autumn. This meant Yamazakiya could only procure eels at about a 10% discount from the previous year. Because rice, fuel and other prices are rising, the restaurant raised the price of it regular-sized unaju grilled eel on rice by ¥400 to ¥4,000 including tax in April.

Masayuki Shiina, owner of Yamazakiya, said, “I feel bad that I had to raise the price, but I hope customers will feel energized by eating highly nutritious eel.”