is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

on Cape Inubō, in the city of

Chōshi Chōshi (, ) is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,174 in 27,160 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Chōshi is located in the northeastern part ...

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is notable as one of the few lighthouses whose original lens was a first order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

, the strongest type of Fresnel lens. It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan. The lighthouse is located within the borders of the Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park.

History

Although not one of eight lighthouses to be built in

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

Japan under the provisions of the

Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce The was signed on 26 August 1858 by Lord Elgin and the then representatives of the Japanese government (the Tokugawa shogunate), and was ratified between Queen Victoria and the Tycoon of Japan at Yedo on 11 July 1859. The concessions which J ...

of 1858, signed by the

Bakumatsu period were the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, under foreign diplomatic and military pressure, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunat ...

Tokugawa Shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, the need for a lighthouse at Cape Inubō for the safety of vessels on the northeastern approaches to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

was recognized at an early time after Japan was opened to the West. The wreck of the Tokugawa navy warship ''Mikaho'' in a

typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

on the rocks of Cape Inubō with the loss of 13 lives on October 6, 1868 further emphasized the need for a lighthouse. The lighthouse was designed and constructed by British engineer Richard Henry Brunton, born 1841 in Kincardineshire, Scotland, who was under contract by the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

. Brunton constructed another 25 lighthouses from far northern

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

to southern

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

during his career in Japan. Work began on the start of 1872. The Inubōsaki Lighthouse was lit on November 15, 1874. The structure consisted of a cylindrical tower made from the first domestically-produced

red brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

s in Japan. Brunton supervised the construction of a brick factory in Tomioka Village in what is now part of Narita City, which produced 193,000 bricks for the project. However, Brunton was uncertain of the mechanical strength of the Japanese bricks, so he constructed the tower using a double thickness for the walls. The tower, at 31.5 meters, is also the second tallest brick lighthouse in Japan, surpassed only by the Shiriyazaki Lighthouse (also built by Brunton) in

Higashidōri is a List of villages in Japan, village located in Aomori Prefecture, Aomori, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 5,913 in 2829 households, and a population density of 20 persons per km2. Its total area is . Geography Higashid� ...

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

. Repairs for historical preservation and improvements in earthquake safety were made in 1977. The Inubōsaki Lighthouse is currently open to the public, who may visit a small museum at its base, and climb to the top for a panoramic view over the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. It is registered with the

International Association of Lighthouse Authorities The International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation (IALA), previously known as International Association of Lighthouse Authorities, is an association founded in 1957 to collect and provide nautical expertise and advice. IALA is also kn ...

as one of the “One Hundred Most Important Lighthouses in the World".The lighthouse is currently maintained by the

Japan Coast Guard The is the coast guard responsible for the protection of the Geography of Japan#Composition, topography and geography, coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It consists of about ...

. Furthermore, in 2020, it was registatered on

Important Cultural Property (Japan) An The term is often shortened into just is an item officially classified as Tangible Cultural Property by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and judged to be ...

.news that Inubosaki Lighthouse was registered on Important Cultural Property (Japan)
/ref>

Gallery

File:Inubozaki lighthouse 002.jpg, On the ocean File:Inubozaki lighthouse 003.jpg, Surrounding town File:Cape-Inubosaki from Toriake-ura beach Choshi city Chiba Japan.jpg, View from the beach

Notes

References

*Brunton, Richard. ''Building Japan, 1868-1879''. Japan Library, 1991. *Pedlar, Neil. ''The Imported Pioneers: Westerners who Helped Build Modern Japan''. Routledge, 1990.

External links

Lighthouses in Japan

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inubosaki Lighthouse Lighthouses in Japan Lighthouses completed in 1874 Transport buildings and structures in Chiba Prefecture Tourist attractions in Chiba Prefecture Museums in Chiba Prefecture Lighthouse museums in Japan Chōshi Registered Tangible Cultural Properties 1874 establishments in Japan

History

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links