Chinatown Has Ten Gates. What the Four Guardian Gates MeanFrom Zenrinmon to Choyomon
Yokohama Chinatown has ten traditional gates, and four of them guard the four directions.
A traditional Chinese gate
A paifang (pailou) is a gate built in the traditional Chinese style. Yokohama Chinatown now has ten of them. The best known is Zenrinmon at the entrance to Chukagai-odori, the main street, but a walk around the district reveals nine more.
Four gates guarding the four directions
Four of the ten stand at the east, south, west and north of the district, each with its own guardian deity and color, following the ancient Chinese practice of opening gates on four sides of a capital and setting a guardian over each direction.
| Direction | Gate | Guardian | Color | Wish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | Choyomon | Azure Dragon | Blue | Welcomes the sunrise and brings prosperity |
| South | Suzakumon | Vermilion Bird | Red | Wards off misfortune and invites good luck |
| West | Enpeimon | White Tiger | White | Lasting peace |
| North | Genbumon | Black Tortoise | Black | Prosperity of descendants |
Choyomon, on the Yamashita Park side, was completed in 2003 and is the largest gate, 13.5 m high and 12 m wide. Visitors arriving from Motomachi-Chukagai Station on the Minatomirai Line enter through it. Suzakumon faces Motomachi, Enpeimon is the second gate on the way from JR Ishikawacho Station, and Genbumon faces Yokohama Stadium.
Chinatown’s streets run at about 45 degrees to the surrounding grid, so its corners point roughly east, south, west and north (How Yokohama Chinatown Began). The four gates follow that orientation.
Zenrinmon and the name “Chukagai”
Zenrinmon was the first gate, built in February 1955 as a wish for postwar recovery. Until then the Japanese called the area Nankinmachi. The gate carried the words “Chukagai” together with the phrase “Shinjin Zenrin” (be good neighbors), and Chukagai became the district’s official name. The gate took its present form in 1989, when it was renamed Zenrinmon.
The other five gates
- Seiyomon: at the far western end, the first gate you pass coming from JR Ishikawacho Station.
- Tenchomon and Chikyumon: at the two ends of Kanteibyo-dori, the street with the Kanteibyo temple.
- Ichiba-dori gates (two): at the entrances to Ichiba-dori, long the market street of Chinatown.
How the gates were added
- 1955The first gate (later Zenrinmon) is built
- 1971–77Gates at the four directions are built
- 1989Zenrinmon takes its present form
- 1995Seven new gates are built
- 2003Choyomon is completed