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Western-style lighthouses built in conjunction with Japan’s modernization have come into the spotlight in recent years, as their historical value and beauty is reevaluated.
With the spread of global positioning systems, lighthouses are losing their role as beacons on the sea, but at the same time they are increasingly being used as tourism resources.
On Jan. 17, Rintaro Itai and Miu Miyakawa, who are both 23-year-old company employees in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, visited the Kannonsaki Lighthouse in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Looking up at the lighthouse, they were captivated by what they called “the integrated beauty of the sea, mountains and lighthouse.”
The two learned about the lighthouse on social media. Last year, they also visited the Inubosaki Lighthouse in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture. The shapes of the lighthouses were “cute,” they said, adding that they created good memories by climbing up the lighthouses.
The Kannonsaki Lighthouse went into operation in 1869 as the first Western-style lighthouse in Japan. It was destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, and the current structure, which was rebuilt two years later, has now become a tourist attraction.
The Tokokai, a public interest incorporated body that promotes knowledge about lighthouses, has designated 16 lighthouses in Japan as “climbable lighthouses” with permission from the Japan Coast Guard. A donation of ¥300 is collected from visitors to preserve historical data on the lighthouses, among other purposes.
