A wave of popularity for things Chinese has swept over Japan in recent years, and Kuan Kung and The Record of the Three Kingdoms are part and parcel of the craze. From the numerous books on the subject displayed in bookstores to cartoons, comic books and even video games, Kuan Kung is an all-pervasive figure, appealing to young and old alike. The martial deity of righteousness and derring-do has become a new idol in the eyes of the Japanese.

Restoration work on Yokohama's impressive Kuan-ti Temple, which is situated next to the Chinese Academy in the city's Chinatown section, was completed only last June. Large crowds are drawn there every day--not to worship but to take pictures.

It is indeed a temple worth photographing. Although done only recently, in imitation of southern Fukien style temple architecture of the Mingand Ching dynasties, and outside China at that, the restoration was painstaking in every respect. The balustrades of white marble from mainland China, the Peking glazed tiles, the Kuan-yin stone dragon columns carved by a master craftsman from Tsu-shih Temple in Sanhsia, Taiwan--each piece is an exquisite work of art. The restoration of the temple, the largest devoted to Kuan-ti in Japan, cost 580 million yen (about NT$120 million) and involved more than 10,000 workers from Japan, Taiwan and mainland China.

Actually, a Kuan-ti temple overseas is no rare sight, especially in places with emigrants from Kuangtung. An elderly worshiper at the Kuan-tiTemple in Yokohama explained that the Cantonese are good merchants and they worship Kuan Kung because uprightness and fair dealing are important in doing business. What merchants look for most is wealth and prosperity, of course, and so Kuan Kung was transformed in time into a god of wealth. An altar to him can be found in the homes and places of business of many Cantonese living overseas.

Following in the steps of emigrants from Kuangtung, Kuan-ti had no choice but to make all the world his home. And while overseas Chinese communities are made up of people with various backgrounds, who may differ in language and customs, they all cooperate and pitch in together, emulating the spirit of the Peach Orchard Oath of Fraternity taken by Liu Pei,Kuan Kung and Chang Fei, and Kuan-ti has become the common property of overseas Chinese everywhere.

On the altar at the Kuan-ti Temple in Yokohama can be seen Fukien-style offerings for fortune and longevity, right beside spirit money in the shape of gold ingots, characteristic of Kuangtung. The offerings are made for the health and happiness of a one-month-old infant or for good business at a restaurant. The Cantonese even go to a Kuan-ti temple on their wedding night to burn incense and take a pair of red candles back to their bedroom, without letting them go out on the way. Business contracts used to be signed and sealed there too, it is said. Kuan Kung is like the senior patriarch of Chinatown, asked to witness and give his blessing to major and minor matters alike.

Because the Kuan-ti Temple is an indispensable source of spiritual comfort to local Chinese, even after being destroyed by earthquake and bombardment, it has always been quickly restored to its original condition. When a fire of undetermined origin burned down most of the temple five years ago, the statue of Kuan Kung miraculously remained undamaged. Taking that as a manifestation of the god's powers, the faithful wanted to build a big temple to him again and raised 300 million yen overnight.

"Non-Chinese didn't used to be allowed in," says Lin Ching-wen, a member of the construction committee, "and before work on the temple was completed last year, it didn't hold much appeal for them anyway. But now, except for some elderly Chinese who go there occasionally to offer incense, most of the time it's packed with tourists."

As soon as the big, fine, new temple was finished, it proved to be the best kind of advertising for Yokohama's Chinatown, bringing in more and more crowds. That was fully foreseen by the merchants there, but it maybe wondered whether Kuan Kung is used to his new job of maintaining a constant smile for the cameras.

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Before restoration, the old temple was rarely visited except by Chinese. (photo courtesy of Wang Liang)

Besides its spiritual significance, the new temple, which cost nearly 600 million yen to rebuild, has added yet more luster to Chinatown's tourist appeal.

Besides its spiritual significance, the new temple, which cost nearly 600 million yen to rebuild, has added yet more luster to Chinatown's tourist appeal.