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 ...

located on a hill at the outermost extremity of Cape Irōzaki south of the town of Minamiizu,

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

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 ...

on the southernmost extremity of

Izu Peninsula The is a mountainous peninsula with a deeply indented coastline to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the island of Honshu, Japan, the largest of the four main islands of Japan. Formerly known as Izu Province, Izu peninsu ...

. It is located within the borders of the

Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park is a national park in Yamanashi, Shizuoka, and Kanagawa Prefectures, and western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It consists of Mount Fuji, Fuji Five Lakes, Hakone, the Izu Peninsula, and the Izu Islands. Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park covers . Rat ...

History

Although not one of the eight lighthouses stipulated specifically by 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, the Irōzaki Lighthouse was one of the earliest of the 26 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 by British engineer

Richard Henry Brunton Richard Henry Brunton FRGS MICE (26 December 1841 – 24 April 1901) was a British engineer known as the "Father of Japanese lighthouses". Brunton was born in Muchalls, Kincardineshire, Scotland. He was employed by the government of Meiji pe ...

, and was the tenth western style lighthouse to be completed in Japan. Its construction was given priority by the

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 ...

due to the frequency of marine accidents off the Izu Peninsula. The original structure as designed by Brunton was octagonal, and was constructed of wood. Work began in July 1871. The Irōzaki lighthouse was completed on October 5, 1871. This structure was destroyed during a wind storm on November 14, 1932, and was replaced with the current reinforced

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

structure on March 31, 1933. Its lens was upgraded and structure repaired in 1993. The Irōzaki Lighthouse is listed as one of the “50 Lighthouses of Japan” by the Japan Lighthouse Association. It is operated 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 ...

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

Minamiizu official home page
Lighthouses completed in 1871 Transport buildings and structures in Shizuoka Prefecture Lighthouses in Japan Minamiizu, Shizuoka {{lighthouse-stub

History

See also

Notes

References

External links