Where the name Motomachi-Chukagai comes from, what stood here before the station, and what you can still spot on a walk today. Then the events near the station that we have checked on the official pages.
Motomachi's name preserves the story of a village displaced by Yokohama's opening to international trade. Before 1859, the original Yokohama village was home to families who combined fishing with farming. When the Tokugawa government decided to establish an international port on their land, the villagers were ordered to move. In 1860, they relocated to the foot of the Yamate hills. Their new settlement became known as Motomura, meaning the original village, and later Motomachi.
Leave Motomachi-Chukagai Station through the Motomachi exit. The shopping street occupies a narrow strip between the Yamate hillside and the Hori River. Foreign residents gradually settled on the hills above, while the road below became a convenient route between their homes and the offices and trading houses of Kannai. Local residents opened shops selling clothing, furniture, bread, and other goods to their new international customers.
Chinatown developed separately within the former foreign settlement. Its identity as Chukagai became increasingly established after the construction of Zenrinmon Gate in 1955. When the railway station opened in 2004, its name brought together two neighborhoods born from the same extraordinary transformation of Yokohama's coastline.
→ Leave through the Motomachi exit and follow the shopping street between the Yamate hillside and the Hori River. The narrow corridor was once the new home of villagers displaced by the opening of Yokohama's port.
Sources (in Japanese): 横浜都市発展記念館・駅に刻まれたまちの歴史, 横浜高速鉄道・元町・中華街駅 駅名の由来
Yokohama Chinatown's streets run at a noticeable angle to the surrounding city grid. A popular explanation connects this alignment with Chinese feng shui, but historical research points to a more practical origin: the boundaries of former rice fields. Before the port opened, this area was Yokohama Shinden, agricultural land reclaimed during the Edo period. When the government converted it into part of the foreign settlement, the old field boundaries appear to have influenced the layout of the new streets.
By 1862, Chinese residents were leasing plots in the newly developed district. Many had arrived to work for Western trading companies, where their language skills and commercial experience were valuable. Over time, Chinese merchants established trading businesses, shops, and restaurants. A small shrine associated with the later Kanteibyo Temple is also said to have appeared around this period.
Leave Motomachi-Chukagai Station toward Chinatown and explore the main shopping streets. Compare their direction with the surrounding avenues. The unusual alignment offers a clue to the fields that existed here before international trade transformed the port. Cross the Hori River toward Motomachi and climb toward Yamate. Within a short walk, the landscape changes from reclaimed farmland and Chinatown to a riverside shopping district and the former foreign residential quarter on the hillside.
→ Explore Chinatown's angled streets around Chukagai Odori and Minamimon Silk Road, then visit Kanteibyo Temple. Cross the Hori River toward Motomachi and climb the Yamate slopes to trace the neighborhood's different historical layers.
Sources (in Japanese): 横浜開港資料館・開港のひろば第99号 中華街の斜めの道, 横浜開港資料館・開港のひろば第100号 中華街斜め考
Every Thursday we post picks for the Tokyo weekend on Instagram at @kyochika.tokyo. Add this site to your home screen to open it like an app.
We list events we could confirm on the official page or official Instagram of the venue or organiser. Details can change, tickets sell out and venues close, so check the official page before you go. Distances are straight-line and travel times are rough estimates. Photos show the venue or its surroundings, not the event itself. Titles and descriptions are our own translations from Japanese. This site contains affiliate links (ads).