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Yokohama Chinatown from Tokyo: Which Station, the 10 Gates, Temple Hours and Fares (2026)

Updated 2026-11-09

Yokohama Chinatown costs nothing to enter and sits at the far end of the Minatomirai Line, so the only two decisions are which station to get off at and whether to arrive by one Tokyu train from Shibuya (¥540, no change) or by JR to Ishikawacho (free with a Japan Rail Pass). Inside, ten gates mark the streets, and the two temples are the fixed points: Kanteibyo opens 8:00 to 18:00 under hours that changed on 1 November 2026, Masobyo 9:00 to 19:00. The Chinatown association's directory lists more than 400 businesses and the city's visitors' guide puts restaurants and shops above 600, so shop hours are the one thing nobody can give you in a single number. Fares, exits, gate names and temple hours below come from the railway, the association and the temples' own pages, checked 2026-11-09.

Schematic map of Yokohama Chinatown: the four guardian gates in blue, red, white and black on the east, south, west and north sides, six gold street gates including Zenrin-mon on the main street, Kanteibyo and Masobyo with their hours, Motomachi-Chukagai Station exits 2 to 5 on the east and Ishikawacho Station's Chinatown Exit on the west.
The district is a tilted square with a gate on each side. Coming from Tokyo on the Minatomirai Line you surface at Exit 2 and the main street begins at the blue east gate; JR travellers walk in from the west through Seiyo-mon and Enpei-mon.

Which station: Motomachi-Chukagai or Ishikawacho?

Station Line Exit to use Walk to the temples Use it if
Motomachi-Chukagai (MM06) Minatomirai Line; Tokyu Toyoko Line trains from Shibuya run straight through Exit 2 for Chinatown Main Street; Exit 3 for Masobyo; Exit 4 for the Marine Tower and Yamashita Park; Exit 5 for Motomachi shopping street Masobyo 3 min from Exit 3, Kanteibyo 5 min You are coming from Shibuya, Yokohama Station or anywhere on the Tokyu line
Ishikawacho JR Keihin-Tohoku Line, same train onto the Negishi Line Chinatown Exit (north side) Kanteibyo 6 min, Masobyo 10 min You hold a Japan Rail Pass, or you are already on a JR train from Tokyo Station
Kannai JR and Blue Line subway South exit Kanteibyo 10 min You walked over from Yokohama Stadium or Bashamichi

Motomachi-Chukagai is the better arrival for almost everyone: the gates are in the station's name, the exits are numbered to the sights, and Yamashita Park and the Marine Tower are on the other side of the same station. Ishikawacho earns its place only through the Japan Rail Pass, which covers the whole JR ride from Tokyo Station and nothing on the Minatomirai Line.

What the ride from Tokyo costs

The Tokyu train from Shibuya does not change at Yokohama, but the fare does: Tokyu charges ¥310 to Yokohama and the Minatomirai Railway charges ¥230 for the last 4.1 km, so the one ride costs ¥540 by paper ticket (¥309 + ¥224 by IC card). Minatomirai Railway publishes typical daytime times from Yokohama Station of about 35 minutes to Shibuya, 43 to Shinjuku-sanchome and 49 to Ikebukuro; the Chinatown end of the line is one more stretch beyond Yokohama.

From Route Change Adult one way Children 6–11
Shibuya Tokyu Toyoko Line, through onto the Minatomirai Line to Motomachi-Chukagai None ¥540 (¥310 + ¥230) ¥160 + ¥120
Shinagawa Keikyu to Yokohama, then the Minatomirai Line Yokohama ¥550 (¥320 + ¥230) ¥160 + ¥120
Shinagawa JR to Yokohama, then the Minatomirai Line Yokohama ¥580 (¥350 + ¥230) ¥170 + ¥120
Shibuya JR to Yokohama, then the Minatomirai Line Yokohama ¥670 (¥440 + ¥230) ¥220 + ¥120
Tokyo Station JR Keihin-Tohoku Line through to Ishikawacho None JR fare at the gate; ¥0 with the Japan Rail Pass half
Yokohama Station Minatomirai Line to the last stop None ¥230 (IC ¥224) ¥120
Ticket table of one-way adult fares to Yokohama Chinatown in 2026: Shibuya by the through Tokyu train 540 yen, Shinagawa via Keikyu 550, Shinagawa via JR 580, Shibuya via JR 670, Tokyo Station to Ishikawacho by JR at the gate or free with the Japan Rail Pass, Yokohama Station 230; day passes 460, 560 and 1,220 yen.
One train, two fares: the Shibuya through service is still the cheapest way in. The three day passes are at the bottom; the ¥1,220 Tokyu pass only beats single tickets if you add at least one more Minatomirai Line ride to the Shibuya round trip.

Three day passes touch this trip. The Minatomirai Line one-day ticket, ¥460 (child ¥230), pays once you make three hops along the harbour, since every ride is ¥200 or ¥230. JR East's Yokohama & Minatomirai Pass, ¥560 (child ¥280), adds the Negishi Line between Yokohama and Shin-Sugita for people arriving at Yokohama by JR. The Tokyu Line & Minatomirai Line One-Day Pass, ¥1,220 (child ¥610; ¥1,190 as a Q SKIP digital ticket) covers the Shibuya trip both ways plus the whole Minatomirai Line. A Shibuya round trip on single fares is ¥1,080, so one extra Minatomirai Line ride, Chinatown to the Red Brick Warehouse at Bashamichi for example, tips the pass into profit. Without that hop, buy singles. Odakyu, Keikyu and the Tokyu pass are all compared for a full harbour day in the Yokohama day trip itinerary.

The 10 gates and what the colours mean

Yokohama's Chinatown association counts ten gates (paifang) standing today. Four of them sit on the district's four sides and carry the four guardian creatures of Chinese cosmology, each with its own colour; the other six stand on the streets inside.

Gate Where Colour and guardian Note
Choyo-mon East, facing Yamashita Park Blue, Azure Dragon Completed 1 February 2003; the first gate you meet from Motomachi-Chukagai Station
Suzaku-mon South, toward Motomachi Red, Vermilion Bird Masobyo stands near this corner
Enpei-mon West, toward Ishikawacho White, White Tiger Second gate from Ishikawacho Station
Genbu-mon North, toward Yokohama Stadium Black, Black Tortoise The way in from Kannai
Zenrin-mon Chinatown Main Street (Chukagai-odori) — The first gate of all, 1955; present form and name since 1989
Seiyo-mon Westernmost, outside Enpei-mon — First gate from Ishikawacho Station
Tencho-mon and Chikyu-mon East and west ends of the street with Kanteibyo — A matched pair
Ichiba-dori gates (two) Market Street — Two smaller gates on one lane

The association also notes that the street grid is turned about 45 degrees to the roads around it, which is why the "east" gate seems to face south-east on a phone map. Treat the colours as the compass: blue is the station and the park side, white is the JR side.

Kanteibyo and Masobyo: hours, history, the ¥500 incense

Kanteibyo (Yamashita-cho 140) is dedicated to Guan Yu, the general worshipped for loyalty and good business. Its hours became 8:00 to 18:00, every day, from 1 November 2026; until 31 October they were 9:00 to 19:00, which is the figure most older guides still print. Over the New Year it stays open late: until 3:00 on the night of 31 December, until 21:00 on 1 to 3 January, until 2:00 on the night before the lunar New Year and until 21:00 on the lunar New Year's Day. Worship is done with incense bought at the reception desk for ¥500, offered at five burners in a set order that starts with the Jade Emperor, who has no statue and is prayed to facing the south gate. The present building is the fourth: the first small shrine went up in 1862, the earthquake of 1923, the air raid of 29 May 1945 and a fire on New Year's Day 1986 each destroyed its predecessor, and the current hall opened on 14 August 1990.

Masobyo (Yamashita-cho 136) is dedicated to Mazu, goddess of the sea, and is the younger temple: it opened on 17 March 2006 on the former site of the Qing consulate, and around a thousand bricks dug up during construction, dated to before the 1923 earthquake, were built into the foundations of its drum and bell towers. Hours are 9:00 to 19:00, until 2:00 on the night of 31 December and until 1:00 on the night before the lunar New Year. Incense and gold paper are sold at its reception desk too, and staff walk first-time visitors through the order of the burners. Neither temple lists an admission fee on its pages.

When to go: the lantern season and the Spring Festival

The association's Spring Festival Lantern Illumination runs from 1 November 2026 to 20 February 2027, so any evening visit this winter is a lit one. Chinese New Year itself falls on 6 February 2027, and that is the one date to plan around rather than wander into: both temples keep late hours the night before, and the association posts the parade and lion-dance programme on its event page as the date approaches. Through November 2026 the association's food festival is running a Shanghai crab fair (1 to 30 November).

For shop hours there is no single answer, and the city's own visitors' guide lists Chinatown's hours as "varies depending on the store". Two fixed points from that guide: Yokohama Daisekai, the souvenir and trick-art building, opens 9:30 to 22:00 every day, and the restaurants it lists mostly run lunch and dinner until 22:00 or later. My rule for a day trip: arrive for a late lunch after 13:00, do the temples before Kanteibyo's 18:00 close, and eat dinner under the lanterns.

Fitting Chinatown into a Yokohama day

Chinatown is the eastern end of the harbour walk, which is why the Yokohama day trip itinerary puts it last: Cup Noodles Museum and Minatomirai in the morning, the Red Brick Warehouse and Osanbashi Pier in the afternoon, Yamashita Park and Chinatown at dusk. The Marine Tower is through Exit 4 of the same station and sells a night ticket, so the view can come after dinner. Arriving from Haneda, the route is in Haneda Airport to Yokohama; from Tokyo Station, Shinagawa or Shibuya, Tokyo to Yokohama by train compares the lines minute by minute. If you plan to ride the red Akai Kutsu loop bus between the Red Brick Warehouse and Chinatown, the Minato Burari Ticket guide works out when the ¥700 bus pass pays.

What I would do

Food tours and Yokohama tickets

PR Affiliate links (disclosure): booking through them supports this site at no extra cost. You do not need a tour for Chinatown itself: the streets, gates and temples are free to enter.

Frequently asked questions

Is Yokohama Chinatown free to visit?

Yes. The streets and the ten gates are public, and neither Kanteibyo nor Masobyo lists an admission fee. The only fixed cost at the temples is the ¥500 incense at Kanteibyo's reception desk if you want to worship.

How long does it take from Tokyo?

Minatomirai Railway gives about 35 minutes from Yokohama Station to Shibuya, 43 to Shinjuku-sanchome and 49 to Ikebukuro as typical daytime times, and Motomachi-Chukagai is 4.1 km beyond Yokohama on the same line. The Japan National Tourism Organization puts both Chinatown stations within about an hour of central Tokyo.

Can I use Suica or PASMO the whole way?

Yes. Tokyu, the Minatomirai Line, Keikyu and JR all take the transport IC cards, and the Shibuya ride is ¥533 by card (¥309 + ¥224) against ¥540 by paper ticket. The Tokyu and Minatomirai day pass is loaded onto a physical PASMO card, not onto a phone.

Official sources (checked 2026-11-09)

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