Jōgashima Lighthouse

Jōgashima Lighthouse (城ヶ島灯台, Jōgashima tōdai) is a lighthouse located on the island of Jōgashima (Japanese: 城ヶ島) in the city of Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, off the southernmost and western tip of Miura Peninsula, facing Sagami Bay. It is the fourth oldest western style lighthouse to be built in Japan, and the second oldest surviving to the present day.

Jōgashima Lighthouse
(城ヶ島灯台)
Jōgashima Lighthouse
LocationMiura
Kanagawa Prefecture
Japan
Coordinates35°08′06.4″N 139°36′40.1″E
Tower
Constructed1870 (first)
Foundationconcrete base
Constructionconcrete tower
Automatedyes
Height11.5 metres (38 ft)
Shapecylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markingswhite tower and lantern
Light
First lit1925 (current)
Focal height30.1 metres (99 ft)
Lens4th order Fresnel
Intensity400,000 candela
Range16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi)[1]
CharacteristicFl W 15s
Japan no.JCG-2407[2]

History

The Jōgashima Lighthouse was one of eight lighthouses built in 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 expatriate French engineer Léonce Verny. Verny constructed another three lighthouses around Tokyo Bay, and was also the engineer who built the nearby Yokosuka Naval Arsenal during his career in Japan.

The lighthouse on top of Jōgashima (seen here at the center of the photograph, from Misaki harbour).

The Jōgashima Lighthouse was completed on September 8, 1870, after the Meiji Restoration, and was originally built of brick. The original structure was destroyed during the Great Kantō earthquake on September 1, 1923, and was replaced with the current reinforced-concrete round structure on August 1, 1925. In 1928, its light source was changed from acetylene to electric, greatly increasing its visibility. The lighthouse has been unmanned since 1991. It is currently maintained by the Japan Coast Guard.

See also

References
  • Pedlar, Neil. The Imported Pioneers: Westerners who Helped Build Modern Japan. Routledge, 1990. ISBN 0-904404-51-X

Notes
  1. Lighthouses in Japan
  2. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Japan: Tōkyō Area". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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