Eating grilled eels in this season has been a long-standing tradition in Japan. This year consumers will be pleased to see the price drop slightly.

Japan's Fisheries Agency says the domestic catch of juvenile Japanese eels for cultivation between last November and April was 17.1 tons -- the highest level in six years.

Lawmakers of Japan's opposition camp have questioned Prime Minister Shinzo Abe regarding parties that were held for his supporters at a Tokyo hotel over the past several years.

At the Lower House budget committee meeting on Monday, opposition lawmakers said they asked a Tokyo hotel whether it had made out receipts for the parties with no customer names. They said the hotel, where some of the parties were held, replied that it had not.