Nojimazaki Lighthouse

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.

Nojimazaki Lighthouse
Nozima Saki
野島埼灯台

Nojimasaki Lighthouse
Location	Minamibōsō Chiba Prefecture Japan
Coordinates	34°54′06.4″N 139°53′17.8″E
Tower
Constructed	1869 (first)
Foundation	brick and concrete
Construction	concrete tower
Height	29 metres (95 ft)
Shape	octagonal tower with balcony and lantern
Markings	white tower and lantern
Heritage	Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan
Light
First lit	1925
Focal height	38 metres (125 ft)
Lens	Second Order Fresnel
Intensity	1,200,000 candela
Range	32 kilometres (17 nmi)
Characteristic	Fl W R 20s
Japan no.	JCG-1910

History

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 Kantō 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 Fresnel lens, and was subsequently electrified.

Current status

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.

Gallery

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  View of Nojimazaki-Lighthouse
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See also

• List of lighthouses in Japan

References

• Brunton, Richard. Building Japan, 1868–1879. Japan Library, 1991. ISBN 1-873410-05-0
• Pedlar, Neil. The Imported Pioneers: Westerners who Helped Build Modern Japan. Routledge, 1990. ISBN 0-904404-51-X
• 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. ISBN 978-1-873410-61-5; OCLC 39086176

External links

• Lighthouses in Japan (in Japanese)