“Private Ukai Appreciation Boat” is an activity to appreciate Ukai while enjoying live shamisen music and meals on a chartered houseboat. Cormorant fishing is a fishing method in which a fisherman called a cormorant pulls a rein and tames a few cormorants to catch river fish such as sweetfish.

Ukai in Arashiyama has been held in the Oigawa River, which runs in front of Hoshinoya Kyoto since the Heian period, and presented the caught fish to the imperial court. The situation is also described in the song * of Ariwara no Narihira.

Tradition is still preserved, and Usho wears a wind-folded eboshi hat and wears a waist to fish. This activity is a unique experience of Arashiyama in the summer, where you can appreciate the cormorant fishing so close that you can feel the heat of the bonfire.

*　「大井河　浮かべる舟の　篝火に　小倉の山も　名のみなりけり」-後撰和歌集より-
(Oi River, for the bonfire of a floating boat, the mountain of Kokura is also just a name. –From Gosen Wakashū)

While watching the cormorant fishing, you can taste the Kyoto-style bento and champagne that the restaurant “Arashiyama Kumahiko” in Arashiyama worked on for this activity.

For the lunch box, I let the salt-grilled sweetfish swim in the image of a cormorant fishing where the sweetfish swimming in the river are caught. In addition, various ingredients that represent the summer of Kyoto, such as the conger that is eaten with plum jelly and Manganji pepper, are included. From the meal, you can enjoy the gorgeousness of the summer evening.

While heading from Hoshinoya Kyoto to the Ukai venue, a live shamisen performance will be performed on the chartered houseboat. The Oigawa River is crowded with tourists during the day, but it becomes quiet at night and quietly echoes in the valley of Oku Arashiyama where the shamisen’s windy tone is settled.

When the cormorant fishing begins, the shouts and drums of the cormorant fishermen make the river bustling differently from the daytime. Enjoy the live performance of the shamisen and the liveliness of the cormorant fishing in front of you.

In this activity, you can rent out a group of elegant houseboat “Jade” exclusively for Hoshinoya Kyoto, so you can enjoy meals and cormorant fishing while relaxing. Jade is a houseboat that uses building materials and decorations that have been popular in Kyoto for a long time to create an elegant space surrounded by traditional Kyoto crafts.

For example, we used Kitayama cedar and cypress wood used for Shoin-zukuri for the boat frame. Copper anchor metal fittings, which have long been used to decorate pillars and ceilings of temples, have been used to cover the tips of the wood.

Inside the boat, there is a bamboo backrest that resembles the dog Yarai of Kyomachiya, and a cushion with a soft texture dyed with vegetation and flowers. You can also enjoy a private space by lowering the bamboo blinds on the side of the boat. You can spend an elegant time while gazing at the scenery of Arashiyama.

・ Limited to 1 group per day (maximum 3 people).
・ Understand the customer’s health condition by measuring the temperature.
If you have a fever, you may be asked to refrain from participating.
・ Use properly disinfected items, and prepare rubbing alcohol for hand disinfection on the houseboat.

＞Click here to make a reservation

＞[Hoshino Resort] Corona measures summary

Hoshinoya Kyoto
Arashiyama, Kyoto Prefecture, where the Heian Aristocracy set up a villa. A waterside private residence that appears when you board a boat from Togetsu Bridge and go up the Oigawa River. It is a resort where you can enjoy the extraordinary world of the beautiful scenery and tranquility of the four seasons, the guest rooms where you can feel the traditional Japanese techniques that live in Kyoto, the Japanese cuisine that freely expresses the five tastes.
11-2 Arashiyama Genrokuyamacho, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto / 25 guest rooms
＞Hoshinoya Kyoto