Yakatabune at Harbor

Have you ever wondered where those narrow party boats you see cruising on Sumida river and in front of Odaiba at night come from? Well, here’s two of the companies at home in Tokyo’s Asakusabashi district, the Tanakaya and the Suzukiya let their classic Tokyo style party boats, the yakatabune (屋形船), to groups and companies that have something special to celebrate. At night dozens of them gather at scenic spots in Tokyo harbor where they are served by a small armada of ships delivering food, necessities and of course, booze. I have always wondered where they go during the day, and now I know. After all my years in Tokyo I have still never been invited on one of these, but some day I hope I will be! At over 10 000 yen per head (usually this includes all you can eat and all you can drink) per evening it is a little out of my budget at present, and you usually need to be a group of over 20 for them to even bother! I’m sure there are also cheaper boats and arrangements for smaller groups but I have never had reason to investigate. Maybe some well traveled reader can tell us of their yakatabune experiences in the comments section?

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