We present a systematic construction of the discrete KP hierarchy in terms of Sato–Wilson-type shift operators. Reductions of the equations in this hierarchy to 1+1-dimensional integrable lattice systems are considered, and the problems that arise with regard to the symmetry algebra underlying the reduced systems as well as the ultradiscretizability of these systems are discussed. A scheme for constructing ultradiscretizable reductions that give rise to Yang–Baxter maps is explained in two explicit examples.