The gate
The Yomeimon gate at Nikko: 508 carvings and one deliberate mistake
It is the single most decorated structure in Japan and it is often called the gate you cannot stop looking at, which is not a marketing line — the old name for it translates as the “gate where the day is spent”, because people stood in front of it until it got dark.
Quick answer
The Yomeimon is the main gate of Nikko Toshogu and carries 508 separate carvings — children, sages, dragons and mythical beasts — with no two the same. One of its supporting columns is deliberately set upside down so that the gate is not perfect. It reached its present form in the 1630s rebuilding, and it is the reason most people book a Nikko tour at all.
The Yomeimon gate, at a glance
- Carvings
- 508and none of them repeats
- Subjects
- Children, sages, beastsplus dragons and creatures unidentified
- One column
- Upside downon purpose, so it is imperfect
- Old nickname
- Higurashi-no-monthe gate where the day is spent
- Present form
- 1630sin Iemitsu’s rebuilding
- Material
- Wood, lacquer, gold leafrestored repeatedly since
- Where
- Toshogupast the pagoda and the sacred stable
- Time to give it
- 20 minutesat least, and people give it more
- Included on
- Every tour hereentry to Toshogu is in the price
- Tours from
- $66from Tokyo, ten hours
The upside-down column
Why is one column of the Yomeimon gate upside down?
A deliberate flaw, so that nothing about the gate is finished.
Because a perfect building was believed to invite misfortune.
The twelve columns supporting the gate are carved with a repeating pattern. On one of them the pattern runs the other way up, and it is not a mistake — it was done deliberately and it is pointed out to every visitor.
The reasoning given is that completion invites decline: a thing finished perfectly has nowhere left to go, and to leave a building flawless is to tempt the gods to correct it. Building an error in on purpose keeps the structure formally unfinished, and therefore safe.
Whether that was the seventeenth-century carpenters’ actual reasoning or a story attached later is not something anybody can settle. It is, however, entirely consistent with a gate that also contains five hundred and eight carvings and refuses to repeat one, which is itself a kind of showing off about craft.
What is on it
Six things carved into the Yomeimon
Worth knowing before you stand there, because the density defeats an unprepared eye.
- Chinese sages and scholars
The upper tier carries figures from Chinese classical tradition, which was the intellectual furniture of the Japanese ruling class in the seventeenth century.
- Children at play
A whole band of them, and they are the friendliest thing on the gate. Look for the ones playing games nobody plays any more.
- Dragons, and near-dragons
Several kinds. Two of the creatures on the beams are dragons and two are something else entirely that the guides will name for you.
- Lions and mythical beasts
Guardian figures at the corners, in a lacquer white that has been restored many times.
- The upside-down column
On the left as you face it. Once somebody points it out you cannot unsee it.
- Gold leaf, everywhere
On the eaves, the brackets and the frames. It is the material that makes the whole thing read as excess rather than as decoration.
The gate is the reason to give Toshogu two hours rather than one.
Toshogu, in full→Every trip, current fare
Every tour that takes you to the gate
Twelve tours, cheapest first. Entry to Toshogu, and therefore to the Yomeimon, is included on all of them.
| Tour | Length | Price | Lake Chuzenji | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private Tour with English-Speaking GuideA private guide at a coach price | 10 h | $66 | If you want it | $6.60 | 5.0 · 45 |
| World Heritage Sites & Hot Spring Day TripThe World Heritage sites and a hot spring | 10 h | $71 | Not included | $7.10 | 5.0 · 1 |
| Kegon Falls, Lake Chuzenji & ToshoguThe most-reviewed Nikko day, lake included | 10.5 h | $74 | Included | $7.05 | 4.6 · 2,272 |
| Toshogu Shrine and Lake Chuzenji Day TripToshogu and the lake, no waterfall stop | 10 h | $75 | Included | $7.50 | 4.4 · 33 |
| Toshogu Shrine and Kegon Waterfall TourThe shrine and the waterfall, most booked | 10.5 h | $83 | Falls only | $7.90 | 4.5 · 1,506 |
| Guided Day Trip to the World Heritage SitesAll three World Heritage sites | 10 h | $88 | Not included | $8.80 | 4.7 · 75 |
| Private Customizable Day Tour with DriverA driver, a vehicle and your own itinerary | 10 h | $303 | If you want it | $30.30 | 5.0 · 26 |
| Full-Day Personal and Private TourA private day, rated 4.9 | 10 h | $311 | If you want it | $31.10 | 4.9 · 316 |
| World Heritage Site Private Day TripA private car and driver | 10 h | $337 | If you want it | $33.70 | 5.0 · 1 |
| Nikko Day Tour with English DriverAn English-speaking driver, flexible route | 10 h | $342 | Included | $34.20 | 4.8 · 23 |
| Private Tour: Toshogu Shrine & Kegon FallsToshogu, the lake and the falls, privately | 10 h | $397 | Included | $39.70 | 4.4 · 11 |
| World Heritage Site Private Full-Day TripThe most complete private day here | 10–11 h | $458 | If you want it | $43.62 | 5.0 · 436 |
Common questions
The Yomeimon gate, answered
What is the Yomeimon gate?
The main gate of Nikko Toshogu and the most decorated structure in Japan, carrying 508 separate carvings with no two the same. It reached its present form in the 1630s.
How many carvings are on the Yomeimon gate?
508, including Chinese sages, children at play, dragons, lions and mythical beasts.
Why is one column upside down?
Deliberately, so that the gate is not perfect. The belief is that a completed, flawless thing invites misfortune, so an error was built in on purpose.
Why is it called the gate where the day is spent?
Higurashi-no-mon, its old nickname, records that people stood in front of it until dusk without exhausting it. Two hundred years later visitors still do the same thing.
Is entry to the Yomeimon gate included on tours?
Yes. It stands inside the Toshogu complex, and entry to Toshogu is included on every tour on this page.
Go deeper
More on Nikko
Nikko Toshogu
The mausoleum of Ieyasu, and why it is covered in gold.
The dayA day trip from Tokyo
Ten hours, four of them travelling, and what fits into the rest.
Getting thereTokyo to Nikko
Two railways, two hours, and which pass covers what.
All threeThe shrines and temples
Toshogu, Futarasan and Rinnoji, and what UNESCO listed.
The monkeysThe three wise monkeys
One panel of eight, and the seven nobody photographs.
The waterfallKegon Falls
Ninety-seven metres out of a lake, and the lift to the base.
