Chinatown and Yamate: gates, lanes and a hillside

The day, in order

1. Morning

   Enter through a single gate

   Pick one gate and walk in rather than circling the district to collect them all. The main lanes are busy by midday; an earlier arrival gives the shopfronts room and makes the gate itself easier to see.

   Read the city guide →
2. Lunch

   Make the meal the main event

   Decide between a sit-down restaurant and a series of small stops before you start. Menus are displayed outside most places; ask about ingredients rather than assuming a dish suits you.

3. Afternoon

   Cross to Yamashita Park and climb to Yamate Optional

   Walk to Yamashita Park for the harbor view, then take the slope or the elevator up to the Yamate district. The old foreign residences and the hillside streets are a different city from the one below.

4. Late afternoon

   Finish in Motomachi Optional

   Come down through Motomachi for a last stop, or return directly from Motomachi-Chukagai Station. Keeping the exit close to a station matters more than adding one more street.

Make it lighter

Stay inside Chinatown: one gate, the main lanes and a sit-down meal. Yamashita Park and the Yamate hillside can wait for another day, and the district is still a full half-day without them.

If the weather changes

The lanes are only partly covered. Keep the meal and shorten the hillside section; the park and the old residences are exposed.

Check before leaving

Shop and restaurant hours differ, and some businesses close on different weekdays. Check the gate you plan to use, and whether the restaurant you want takes reservations on your date.