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 the island of

Sugashima is an inhabited island located in Ise Bay off the east coast of central Honshu, Japan. It is administered as part of the city of Toba in Mie Prefecture. It is the second largest of the outlying islands of Toba. Historically, it was noted for it ...

, in

Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie prefecture, Mie and Aichi prefecture, Aichi Prefectures in Japan. Ise Bay has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The mouth of the bay is and is connected to the small ...

off the shores of the city of Toba,

Mie Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture an ...

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 located within the borders of the

Ise-Shima National Park is a national park in Mie Prefecture, Japan. It is characterized by its ria coast and islands scattered around a number of bays. The interior is hilly with Mount Asama-ga-take ( the highest peak. Natural areas * Ago Bay * Kami-shima * Kashi ...

History

The Sugashima Lighthouse was designed and constructed 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 ...

. Work began in February 1872. It was first lit on July 1, 1873, in a ceremony attended by

Saigō Takamori Saigō Takamori (; 23 January 1828 – 24 September 1877) was a Japanese samurai and politician who was one of the most influential figures in Japanese history. He played a key role in the Meiji Restoration, which overthrew the Tokugawa shogunate ...

and other dignitaries of 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 ...

. Brunton constructed a total of 25 lighthouses in Japan 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, each with a different design. Built of domestically produced white bricks, the Sugashima Lighthouse is styled in the manner of a European castle round tower, complete with crenellations. It replaced a more primitive light established by the

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 ...

on the island in 1673 in response to numerous shipwrecks in the area. The lighthouse was fully automated and has been unattended since July 1959. The tower contains a fourth 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 ...

, and has a range of 27 kilometers. The Sugashima 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 ...

Protected status

In 1964, the former official abode of the lighthouse keeper was relocated to serve as an exhibit at

Meiji Mura is an open-air architectural museum/theme park in Inuyama, near Nagoya in Aichi prefecture, Japan. It was opened on March 18, 1965. The museum preserves historic buildings from Japan's Meiji (1867–1912), Taishō (1912–1926), and early ...

, a historical museum in

Inuyama, Aichi is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 73,420 in 31,276 households, and a population density of 980 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The name of the city literally translates to "Dog Moun ...

and was registered as an

Important Cultural Property of 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 o ...

in 1968. The lighthouse itself became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2010.

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

Museum Meiji Mura

Lighthouses completed in 1873 Transport buildings and structures in Mie Prefecture Lighthouses in Japan Tourist attractions in Mie Prefecture {{lighthouse-stub

History

Protected status

See also

Notes

References

External links