What’s Special About Yakatabune “Hokusai”

HomeWhat’s Special About Yakatabune “Hokusai”

Yakatabune “Hokusai” is the newest and one of the largest Yakatabune in Japan.
The ship is decorated with Ukiyo-e paintings such as the famous “The Great Wave Off of Kanagawa”
from Hokusai Katsushika’s series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” which boosts the Edo-era mood throughout your cruise.
There is a rooftop viewing deck with benches for your comfort. The ship compartments are smoke-free, but there is a smoking station at the rear deck.
There are 4 toilets, all equipped with Washlet shower function.
We are also the first Yakatabune with a baby bed for the comfortable journey of guests of all ages.
Come experience “Hokusai” with the newest functions complete with a broad range of amenities.

One of the largest Yakatabunes in Japan

Yakatabune “The 35th Fujimi” (known as “Hokusai”) can carry up to 142 persons (132 passengers and 10 crew), making it one of the largest Yakatabunes in Japan. The main hall with tatami mats has tables on tatami mats with sunken floors that seat up to 120 passengers, and there is space for 12 more crew, tour escorts, hostesses, etc.

There was only one shipyard capable of making Yakatabunes of this size but they went out of business after making this boat. That means we will continue to be the newest Yakatabune of this category for a while.

Ukiyo-e by Hokusai Katsushika

We have decorated our ships with “Ukiyo-e”, Japanese paintings from the Edo era. The paintings on board include famous works by Katsushika Hokusai such as “The Great Waves Off of Kanagawa” and “Fine Wind, Clear Morning” from his series “Thirty-six View of Mount Fuji” arranged specially for this boat. (“Thirty-six View of Mount Fuji” is a series of woodblock print by Hokusai Katsushika depicting Mount Fuji seen from various parts of Japan in the Edo era).

In the past, Mount Fuji could be seen from our boathouse, and that is where the company name comes from: “Fuji” for Mount Fuji, and “Fu” meaning to see. The Chinese character used in the company name has also been arranged to symbolize cloud streaming in front of Mount Fuji. Why? Because when wind isn’t strong and waters are calm, there is cloud streaming on Mount Fuji. That’s what our ancestors put into the company name.

Wide anti-fog double windows

“Hokusai” is fitted with anti-frost custom-made double windows (2 meters wide, which is 20cm wider than ready-made windows) for a clear and wide view to maximize the panorama from inside the ship.

The windows stay clear even when we serve hot pots in the wintertime. The roll-up screens are neatly stowed in its wall compartment for a nice clean look.

A non-smoking boat with a smoking station on the deck

Hokusai is the first Yakatabune with a fully smoke-free compartment, but has an outdoor smoking station with a roof at the back end of the deck.
This is to meet the needs of both smokers and non-smokers.

Check out the humorous ukiyo-e of “Okiku-san” at the smoking station!

Washrooms complete with Washlet toilet showers and a baby bed

“Hokusai” has 2 toilets for men and 2 toilets for women,all equipped with Washlet toilet showers. We are also proud to announce “Hokusai” is the first Yakatabune to place a baby bed in the women’s washroom for the convenience of guests with infants.

The interior work of the toilets are very nice, but it actually differs from what was initially ordered. Too bad!
So I decided to do something with the boathouse’s bathroom. Come check it out.

A spacious rooftop viewing deck

On the rooftop is a viewing deck to enjoy a panoramic view.
The viewing deck has 4 benches illuminated by blue colored light so that our guests sit down to relax and feel the season in the wind of the day.

There’s nothing like being surrounded by the night view and cherry blossoms from the viewing deck! Super nice.

Available for conferences and shootings

“Hokusai” is available for lunch or dinner meetings as well as for shootings.
There are 5 TV monitors (52 inch x 1, 32 inch x 2, and 20 inch x 2) on board which can be set up so that they are visible from all seats.
They can be used for presentations using PC’s as well. Please contact us for details.

PC’s, mobile audio equipment, game machines, etc. can be connected to these 5 monitors for simultaneous replay.
Be creative and there’s lots you can do with it.

Hokusai Katsushika and other artists

Hokusai Katsushika, one of the most famous ukiyo-e artists, was born in Edo and grew up in the Ryogoku and Fukagawa area.
In his late years, he made frequent visits to Obuse in Nagano prefecture to stay with wealthy merchant Kozan Takai and thus has strong ties with this area.
The artwork that appoint “Hokusai” were produced by six top pupils of Chinami Nakajima, a great modern Japanese painting artist with deep relationship with Obuse.
The artwork was infused with great power by being created by these people with connection with Hokusai Katsushika.

We are so fortunate to have artists with ties with to Hokusai Katsushika to create artwork for our ship. Many thanks to the artists.

A long winding road to the completion of a new ship

Fujimi ordered a Yakatabune from a shipyard in Ominato of Isesaki, Mie prefecture.
However, shortly after starting on the work, the company faced a crisis and was unable to continue building Fujimi’s Yakatabune.
As a result, the bottom of the boat, like a rectangular dish, was found lying on the floor of the shipyard on a building berth.
Kazuo Ishijima, president of Fujimi, was at a loss, but being a strong minded man of downtown Edo, he decided to manage the project himself and continued on push forward with the ship building.

It was an excruciating process. He had little if no experience in ship building, and had to travel between Tokyo and Ise frequently.
Despite all the concerns, one year from when the ship was ordered, the summer of 2007, the ship was ready for self-navigation and launched in water.
While having to avoid a typhoon on its way, Hokusai made its way to Tokyo where the outfitting work took place.

We wanted a special nickname for our brand new Yakatabune, something not too preposterous, and went looking into our history as a boathouse and our location.
As a result, we outlined the facts that our company name “Fujimi” comes from the view of Mount Fuji and that we had been in this business in Fukagawa since the Edo era.
It was “Hokusai Katsushika” that had drawn Mount Fuji as seen from various parts of Japan in his series of work, “Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji”, and he was born and brought up in Edo’s Fukagawa and Ryogoku area.
From these relationships, we decided to name this new ship “Hokusai”.

Kazuo Ishijima, the 5th master and the father to the ship and Koji Ishijima, the 6th master who had named the ship, were excited when the ship was finally complete and ready to welcome guests.

The nickname “Hokusai” is a symbol of Fujimi’s new identity and a perfect match with the company name “Fujimi”.

Our Boathouse’s New Washroom

We have renovated our boathouse’s washroom. Our toilets welcome guests with light, music and air to offer a moment of refreshing relaxation.
As the black tiles resemble hanging scrolls in a Japanese room, we have a painting by Hokusai hanging here as well.
Make sure to stop by at our washroom when you come to our boathouse.
(comments by the 6th master)