People have traditionally eaten eel to give them stamina on doyo-ushi day in the summer in order to give them extra stamina. Now that eel is imported, however, it can be eaten all year round, and even around Lake Hamana in Shizuoka Prefecture, which is the home of eel farming in Japan, imported farmed eel is used. Yes, that's due to various factors that have resulted in a precipitous decline in the number of eel farmers, such as the aging of farmers and a shortage of successors, the dramatic decline in wild eel numbers, competition from imports, and the rise in the cost of elvers for farming and unit production costs. Total yield in Japan including both wild and farmed eels peaked at 41,094 tons in 1985. As the figures show, processed eel comprises three quarters of imports.
Fresh eel is imported mainly by air.
Yes, though only a little. These appear to be exports of wild Japanese eel imported directly by Japanese restaurants in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Obtaining elvers is the biggest problem confronting eel farmers in Japan. They are therefore imported from places such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and France. Mainly in Aichi, Kagoshima and Shizuoka, followed by other prefectures such as Miyazaki, Kochi, Tokushima and Mie.