Tokyo ? It’s the hottest time of the year in Japan, and that means it’s eel season.

So, bottom’s up!

A canned drink called “Unagi Nobori,” or “Surging Eel,” made by Japan Tobacco Inc., hit the nation’s stores this month just ahead of Japan’s annual eel-eating season, company spokesman Kazunori Hayashi said Monday.

“It’s mainly for men who are exhausted by the summer’s heat,” Hayashi said of the beverage, believed to be the first mass-produced eel drink in Japan.

Many Japanese believe eating eel boosts stamina in hot weather.

The fizzy, yellow-colored drink contains extracts from the head and bones of eel and five vitamins – A, B1, B2, D and E – contained in the fish.

The Japanese particularly like to eat eel on traditional eel days, which fall on Thursday and Aug. 5 this year.

Eel extract is also used in cookies and pies made in Japan’s biggest eel producing town, Hamamatsu.