- Omaezaki Lighthouse
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Omaezaki Lighthouse
御前埼灯台
Omaezaki Lighthouse Location Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan Coordinates 34°35′45″N 138°13′33″E / 34.59583°N 138.22583°E Year first lit 1874, 1946 Foundation Brick, Concrete Construction Brick, Concrete Tower shape Conical Height 22.47 metres (73.7 ft) Focal height 50.4 metres (165 ft) Original lens Third Order Fresnel Intensity 1,300,000 candela Range 36 kilometres (19 nmi) Omaezaki Lighthouse (御前埼灯台 Omaezaki tōdai) is a lighthouse located on a hill at the outermost extremity of Cape Omaezaki south of Omaezaki port, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
A lighthouse had been built at Cape Omaezaki as early as 1635, when the Tokugawa Shogunate recognized the frequency of marine accidents on the rocks off the coast of Tōtōmi Province.
The Omaezaki Lighthouse was one of the 26 lighthouses to be built in Meiji period Japan by British engineer Richard Henry Brunton, Although not one of the eight lighthouses stipulated specifically by the provisions of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce of 1858, construction was given priority by the Meiji government after a Japanese navy vessel grounded on the rocks off Cape Omaezaki on April 8, 1871. Construction began on May 26, 1872 and the lighthouse was completed on May 1, 1874 at a cost of 25,000 Yen. The lighthouse is noteworthy in that it is the first to use a Fresnel lens in Japan.
The light was upgraded to a more powerful beam in 1917. During World War II, Omaezaki Lighthouse was bombarded by United States Navy warships, cracking its lens and causing severe damage to its structure. The light was repaired after the end of the war, and its lens upgraded to a third order Fresnel. It went back into operation on March 24, 1949.
The Omaezaki Lighthouse is currently open to the public, and can be ascended for a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean. It is registered with the Japanese government as an “A-grade Lighthouse” for historic preservation and is listed as one of the “50 Lighthouses of Japan” by the Japan Lighthouse Association.
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
External links
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 1874
- Shizuoka Prefecture
- Lighthouses in Japan
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