Ukai has an old history; in the section on Emperor Jinmu in "Nihonshoki," there is a description about the division of Ukai, 'there was a man who caught fish by making yana (a fish trap), and the Emperor asked him about it. He answered that he was a child of Nihemotsu (Hoshotan), who was the founder of the division of cormorant farming in Ada,' and in "Kojiki" there are also songs and ballads on Ukai.
鵜飼いの歴史は古く、『日本書紀』神武天皇の条に「梁を作つて魚を取る者有り、天皇これを問ふ。対へて曰く、臣はこれ苞苴擔の子と、此れ即ち阿太の養鵜部の始祖なり」と、鵜養部のことが見え、『古事記』にも鵜養のことを歌った歌謡が載っている。