It’s not enough for beer to be the official drink of the oppressively hot Japanese summer, one beer company is hoping to tie-in with the traditional food of summer, unagi (eel). Miyashita Sake Brewery is launching a “Suitable for Unagi” black beer that matches the color and richness of the grilled eel coated in sticky and slightly sweet sauce. Sold online in gift packs (¥2,425 for six), the “Suitable for Unagi” beer is intended as a summer gift for friends and co-workers.
Unagi is traditionally eaten during the summer to boost stamina against the appetite-destroying heat, particularly on the midsummer days of the Ox (July 24th and August 5th this year). While the origin of this custom is generally unknown and up for dispute, Miyashita is promoting a theory that explains that because the day of the Ox is associated with calamity, people traditionally turned to the Black Tortoise (the guardian deity of the north, also the direction associated with the Ox) for protection from disaster. The Black Tortoise God is black, thus people ate black food like unagi and now, says the brewery, black beer.
Posters advertising unagi to be hung in restaurants this summer, from unagi.org.
Whatever the reason (and we apologize for any of the questionably accurate explanations above, translated from the Miyashita promotional material), suffice to say the tradition has been a boon for eel merchants since the Edo period.
Meanwhile, a new beverage from Japan Tobacco Beverage says skip the eel altogether and instead go for a bottle of “Unagi Nobori,” a carbonated beverage combining vitamins and “eel extract” with a “refreshing flavor” to beat the summer swelter.
The packaging evokes a traditional unagi vendor, though a ¥147 a bottle the price is significantly less than the real thing.
