夏の「土用の丑の日」は今年7月26日　うなぎを食べる習慣に向け、スーパーやお店で予約が始まる

Welcome to Japanese Daily News. I'm Maya. Today is July eighth. Here's a tasty summer story. Japan has a special midsummer day when people eat eel to beat the heat. This year that day is coming soon, and shops have started taking reservations. Let's listen.

Now let's break it down, sentence by sentence.

In Japan, there is a custom of eating eel on this day.

It means a custom or habit.

It's in order to spend the hot summer full of energy.

It means to spend or pass time.

Eel has lots of nutrition that is good for the body.

It means nutrition or nourishment.

Right now, at supermarkets and shops, eel reservations have begun.

It means a reservation or booking in advance.

At the earliest shops, they have been taking reservations since June.

It means to accept or receive an application or order.

But the price of eel is getting higher year by year.

It means the price of something.

It means year by year, little by little each year.

The reason the price is high is that the number of eels is decreasing.

It means a reason.

It means to decrease or go down in number.

Even so, there are many people looking forward to this day.

It means something you look forward to, a pleasure.

Let's listen to the whole story one more time.

Time for a short quiz. Listen and try to answer.

It is July twenty-sixth this year.

People have a custom of eating eel.

It is getting higher year by year.

That's all for today. If you're in Japan this month, look for eel at the shops and enjoy a taste of summer. Thanks for listening, and see you tomorrow.