The Japanese Covered Bridge, Hoi An's oldest symbol

The Japanese Covered Bridge is the emblem of Hoi An: a short roofed bridge over a stream, with a temple built into one side. It appears on the 20,000 dong banknote and on almost every photograph of the town. Crossing it takes a minute, and seeing it well depends on the hour.

What is the Japanese Covered Bridge?

The Japanese Covered Bridge, called Chua Cau in Vietnamese, is a small wooden bridge with a tiled roof over a stream at the western end of Hoi An's old town. Japanese merchants built it in the 1590s to link their quarter with the Chinese one across the water.

The bridge has been rebuilt and repaired several times since, and the present structure mixes Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese styles. A restoration completed in 2024 renewed the roof, the timber and the stone piers after years of work.

The Japanese community that built it did not stay. Japan closed its ports to foreign trade in the 1630s, and the merchants who remained in Hoi An were absorbed into the town. In 1719 a Nguyen lord gave the bridge its formal name, Lai Vien Kieu, the bridge for travellers from afar.

What is inside the bridge?

Inside the bridge is a short wooden gallery and, on its north side, a small temple dedicated to Tran Vo Bac De, a Taoist god of the north believed to guard against floods. The temple is the reason the bridge is called a pagoda in Vietnamese.

Carved wooden figures stand at each end: a pair of monkeys on one side and a pair of dogs on the other. The usual story is that building began in a year of the monkey and ended in a year of the dog. Another holds that the animals guarded against a monster thought to cause earthquakes.

Do you need a ticket to cross the bridge?

Crossing the Japanese Covered Bridge uses one of the five coupons on the Hoi An old town ticket. The ticket costs 120,000 dong for foreign visitors and stays valid for ten days, and the bridge is one of about twenty heritage sites it covers.

Tickets are checked at the bridge, so keep yours to hand. The Hoi An things to do page explains which of the other sites deserve a coupon, since two or three of the merchant houses are worth one and the small museums are thin.

When is the best time to see the bridge?

The best time to see the bridge is early morning, before about eight. The old town is quiet, the light is soft, and the stream below is still. From ten until four the bridge is the most crowded spot in town, with queues to photograph it from both banks.

After dark is the other good hour. The bridge is lit, the lanterns on the surrounding streets come on, and the reflections on the water make the classic night photograph. The lantern festival page sets out the full-moon nights, when the old town is at its most atmospheric and its busiest.

Where should you stand to photograph the bridge?

Stand on the southern bank of the stream to photograph the bridge side-on, with its roofline and arches reflected in the water. The small quay at the western end gives the view on the cover of this page and on the banknote.

Crossing the bridge gives no view of it at all. Photograph first, then use the coupon, and step out of the gallery quickly, since people behind are waiting to do the same.

How does the bridge fit a walk through the old town?

The bridge fits the western end of a walk through the old town, where Tran Phu street meets Nguyen Thi Minh Khai. Start at the bridge early, walk east along Tran Phu past the assembly halls, and end at the market by the river before the heat.

The three-day Hoi An route builds its first day around the town at the quiet hours, and the colonial architecture guide explains why Hoi An's streets look Chinese and Japanese rather than French.