Take A Yakatabune Dinner Cruise On Tokyo Bay

Above, a yakatabune dinner cruise boat moored on the Sumida River. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For those interested in Japanese culture and want to experience in one activity while in Tokyo, the following may just be your cup of tea.

Japan Visitor has an article on traditional yakatabune dinner cruises on Tokyo Bay.

They begin with:

A cruise around Tokyo Bay is a great way to appreciate a face of Tokyo you would never otherwise get to see. 

Tokyo Bay was once the capital's raison d'etre, and has been a decisive factor in the capital's history. Now, with trains and planes having largely replaced oceangoing, the sea that laps at the capital might not feature much in the weekday workaday lives of Tokyoites. 

Yet Tokyo's denizens are still keenly aware of the charms of the nearby ocean, and houseboats (yakatabune, ("ya-ka-ta-BOO-nay") have been a genteel recreational tradition here on the bay for centuries. 

The yakatabune is less what the average tourist would think of as a "houseboat" than a traditional recreational vessel, with good food being the main theme of the recreation, supplemented by onboard entertainment. 

Yakatabune were originally the preserve of the very wealthy, but any tourist to Tokyo can now enjoy this elegant, memorable, on-the-water pastime for no more than the price of a good night out spent anywhere else.

To read more, go here.