A summer tradition of kaiseki cuisine and luxurious cormorant fishing at Arashiyama Kitcho’s main restaurant

Once upon a time, the court nobles of the Heian period enjoyed the luxury of boating, and in the days before Japan’s economic boom, Kyoto’s masters would take their geisha and dancers on boating excursions…

This is the “Arashiyama Cormorant Fishing Boat Tour on the Oigawa River” that has continued for 1,200 years….

Today, we are going to visit “Arashiyama Kitcho Honten,” which is one of the most famous restaurants in…

Today, we enjoyed an authentic kaiseki dinner at Arashiyama Kitcho’s main restaurant, where we specially requested a menu for the Chou-you-no-Sekku festival on September 9…

There are 11 cormorant fishing spots in Japan, and in Kyoto, there are two cormorant fishing spots on the Uji River besides the Oigawa River in Arashiyama.

The cormorant fishing here in Arashiyama is the only one operated by a private company. The others are all subsidized by the government and are not profitable…

After enjoying about half of the dishes in Kitcho’s tatami room, we enjoyed the second half of the meal in Kitcho’s lantern boat in the cool late-summer evening breeze, with grilled sweetfish, abalone and salmon roe, boned fish, and earthenware pot rice, followed by the highlight of the evening, the cormorant fishing…

What a luxurious meal…

From the Kitcho’s spectator boat, we could see cormorants in traditional costumes in the pitch black of the night under the glowing bonfire, maneuvering 10 to 12 cormorants to catch ayu fish.

We were blessed with beautiful weather, and tonight was another perfect day of luxury.

Thank you!