National "Unagi" Day?!

Obachan's Unagi Donburi (eel on a bowl of rice) Of course there is no such thing as ”National Unagi (eel) Day” on our calendar here in Japan, but I would think that the day almost deserves such a name. The day is actually called doyo no ushi no hi -– “day of the ox in midsummer” according to an online dictionary -- and said to be the hottest day of the year. It is our custom to eat unagi on that day, and the “day of the ox” fell on July 28th this year. So what does the hottest day of the year have to do with unagi　? Well, here's a story widely known in Japan about how people started eating eel on that particular day. More than 200 years ago, owner of a very UNpopular unagi restaurant asked a guy for an idea for boosting their sales. The guy, Hiraga Gennai was a pharmacist and also a multi-talented genius who later invented something like an electrostatic generator. Gennai put up a poster at the restaurant, which said something like “Eat nutritious eel to beat summer weariness,” and people were convinced that it must be a good thing to eat such a nutritious food on the hottest day of the year. It worked like a magic. The ad not only saved the slumping restaurant but created a custom that has been passed down for more than 200 years. What a great sales promotion strategy, don't you think? I wonder if anyone today can come up with a promo phrase that has such a long-lasting effect. Anyway, today, we of course do not believe that eating eel on one particular day only can beat summer weariness. But we just have to try anything if it was said to be “good for health,” and here in Japan everyone does the same thing at the same time. Yes, I’m exaggerating, but maybe it’s not too far from the truth. There was a long line right outside this well-known unagi restaurant in Kochi city. These people were there for unagi bento to go, and only a few bentos were left when I took this photo. Right outside a big supermarket, two guys were selling broiled eels. It’s not included in this photo, but there was a small BBQ grill next to this table and they were broiling the eels over charcoal. The young guy there was rather unhappy because I took a shot of the products they were selling only, not him. I didn’t have a nerve to just take a photo and say good bye, so I bought one there. The sauce came in a small plastic bag with the eel. So, everyone, my unagi-donburi was again a ready-made stuff, except the rice I cooked at home :P I did use a little trick when preparing the donburi, though. After cutting the unagi in several pieces, I placed them on aluminum foil, sprinkled sake all over, brought up and pinched the edges of the foil together tightly, then heated the foil-wrapped unagi in a frying pan. This is supposed to make the unagi a little softer and tastier, according to a TV cooking show I saw a long time ago. The trick did not work like a magic, unfortunately, but I do think the photo of unagi-donburi on top looks pretty nice, at least. ;) * I had been curious about the meaning of doyo so I did a little bit of online research. If you’re interested, Read More ---------- In an ancient Chinese cosmology, Gogyo Theory (the Five Elements Theory), this world was considered to be made up of the five elements: fire, water, earth, metal and wood. When the theory was applied to the seasons, they associated wood with spring, fire with summer, gold with autumn and water with winter. They saw the earth (土, pronounced "do")as something to aid the other elements, and placed it between the seasons. The philosophy there is that all seasons and elements return to earth before transforming into the next one. So, the last 18 days of each season is called “Doyo (土用),” i.e., the period of earth. In ancient Chinese calendar, each day was associated with one of the 12 animals in the Zodiac. The "day of the ox” in the Doyo period between summer and autumn is supposed to be the hottest day of the year, perhaps because the sun comes to a certain point on the ecliptic on that day …. That’s what I think I understood from several websites I went through regarding the "day of the ox.” Corrections by experts would be appreciated. PLEASE!