Doyou no Ushi no Hi
I just learned that in Japan today is dedicated to the eating of eel as a means of beating the summer doldrums.
While I was in Japan in 2004 (that long ago?), I was treated by my host family, the Oshiais, to a meal for eel at a restaurant in Hamamatsu. Now I know that it was the right choice for a hot day in the middle of summer. The most challenging part of the the meal was the kimosui, a clear soup made from eel innards.
土用の牛の日 is doyou no ushi no hi
written in kana. It actually means day of the cow/ox in midsummer
.
(Though it might also refer to the day of the cow toward the end of any
season. I have conflicting information on that.) There's a complicated
reason having to do with the Chinese calendar why unagi is eaten
on the day of the cow.