- Nojimazaki Lighthouse
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Nojimazaki Lighthouse
野島埼灯台
Nojimasaki Lighthouse 
Location Minamibōsō, Chiba Prefecture, Japan Coordinates 34°54′06″N 139°53′18″E / 34.90167°N 139.88833°E Year first lit December 1869 Foundation Brick, Concrete Construction Brick, Concrete Tower shape Octagonal Height 29 metres (95 ft) Focal height 38 metres (125 ft) Original lens Second Order Fresnel Intensity 1,200,000 candela Range 32 kilometres (17 nmi) Characteristic Fl W R 20s Nojimazaki Lighthouse (野島埼灯台 Nojimazaki tōdai) is a lighthouse located at the southern tip of the Bōsō Peninsula, in the city of Minamibōsō, Chiba Prefecture Japan.
The Nojimazaki Lighthouse was one of eight lighthouses to be built in Meiji period Japan under the provisions of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce of 1858, signed by the Bakumatsu period Tokugawa Shogunate. The lighthouse was designed and constructed by French engineer Léonce Verny, and is noteworthy in that it is the second lighthouse to be completed in Japan, after the Kannonzaki Lighthouse on the opposing entrance to Tokyo Bay. As completed, the whitewashed octagonal brick structure stood 30 metres (98 ft) high, and had a first-order Fresnel lens, with a kerosene light source. The lighthouse was first lit on January 19, 1869.
During the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, the top eight meters of the structure collapsed. It was rebuilt in concrete, and recommissioned on August 15, 1925. The structure was again damaged in 1945 by bombardment by the United States Navy. It was repaired after the war with a second-order Frensel lens, and was subsequently electrified.
The Nojimazaki 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. It is registered with the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities as one of the “One Hundred Most Important Lighthouses in the World” and by the Japanese government as a Historic Monument.
References
- Brunton, Richard. Building Japan, 1868-1879. Japan Library, 1991. ISBN 1873410050
- Pedlar, Neil. The Imported Pioneers: Westerners who Helped Build Modern Japan. Routledge, 1990. ISBN 090440451X
- Polak, Christian. (2001). Soie et lumières: L'âge d'or des échanges franco-japonais (des origines aux années 1950). Tokyo: Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Française du Japon, Hachette Fujin Gahōsha (アシェット婦人画報社).
- Sims, Richard. (1998). French Policy Towards the Bakufu and Meiji Japan 1854-1894: A Case of Misjudgement and Missed Opportunities. London: RoutledgeCurzon. 10-ISBN 1-873410-61-1/13-ISBN 9781873410615; OCLC 39086176
External links
- Lighthouses in Japan (Japanese)
Lighthouses of Japan Early Meiji lighthouses
(Léonce Verny)Kannonzaki Lighthouse (1869) • Nojimazaki Lighthouse (1869)• Shinagawa Lighthouse (1870) • Jōgashima Lighthouse (1870)
Later Meiji lighthouses
(“Brunton’s Children”)Kashinozaki Lighthouse (1870) • Tsurugisaki Lighthouse (1871) • Esaki Lighthouse (1871) • Hesaki Lighthouse (1871) • Mikomotoshima Lighthouse (1871) • Irōzaki Lighthouse (1871) • Iojimazaki Lighthouse (1871) • Satamisaki Lighthouse (1871) • Nosappumisaki Lighthouse (1872) • Tomogashima Lighthouse (1872) • Mutsurejima Lighthouse (1872) • Shirasu Lighthouse (1873) • Sugashima Lighthouse (1873) • Anorisaki Lighthouse (1873) • Tsurushima Lighthouse (1873) • Shionomisaki Lighthouse (1873) • Inubōsaki Lighthouse (1874) • Omaezaki Lighthouse (1874) • Eboshijima Lighthouse (1875) • Shiriyazaki Lighthouse (1876) • Kinkasan Lighthouse (1876) • Tsunoshima Lighthouse (1876) •Taisho period lighthouses Sunosaki Lighthouse (1919) • Nomazaki Lighthouse (1921)Modern lighthouses Yokohama Marine Tower (1961)Categories:- Buildings and structures completed in 1869
- Chiba Prefecture
- Lighthouses in Japan
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