is a lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 located on Cape Tsurugi on the southeastern extremity of the city of Miura

Miura, Kanagawa

is a city located in central Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 44,238 and a population density of 1,490 persons per km²...

, Kanagawa Prefecture

Kanagawa Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 on the southernmost and eastern tip of Miura Peninsula

Miura Peninsula

is a peninsula located in Kanagawa, Japan. It lies south of Yokohama and Tokyo and divides Tokyo Bay, to the east, from Sagami Bay, to the west. Cities and towns on the Miura Peninsula include Yokosuka, Miura, Hayama, Zushi, and Kamakura....

. (On the southernmost western tip of Miura Peninsula stands the Jōgashima Lighthouse

Jōgashima Lighthouse

is a lighthouse located on the island of Jōgashima in the city of Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, off the southernmost and western tip of Miura Peninsula, facing Sagami Bay...

.)

The Tsurugisaki Lighthouse was one of eight lighthouses to be built in Meiji period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

 Japan under the provisions of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce

Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce

The was signed on August 26, 1858 by Lord Elgin and the then representatives of the Japanese government . This was an unequal treaty, that gave Japan semi-colonial status.The concessions which Japan made were threefold:...

 of 1858, signed by the Bakumatsu period Tokugawa Shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

. The lighthouse was designed and constructed by British engineer

O-yatoi gaikokujin

The Foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan, known in Japanese as oyatoi gaikokujin , were those foreign advisors hired by the Japanese government for their specialized knowledge to assist in the modernization of Japan at the end of the Bakufu and during the Meiji era. The term is sometimes...

 Richard Henry Brunton

Richard Henry Brunton

Richard Henry Brunton FRGS MICE was the so-called "Father of Japanese lighthouses". Brunton was born in Muchalls, Kincardineshire, Scotland...

. Brunton constructed another 25 lighthouses from far northern Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

 to southern Kyūshū

Kyushu

is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....

 during his career in Japan.

The Tsurugisaki Lighthouse was completed on March 1, 1871 and was designed to protect shipping entering Tokyo Bay

Tokyo Bay

is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...

 via the Uraga Channel

Uraga Channel

The is a waterway connecting Tokyo Bay to the Sagami Gulf. It is an important channel for ships headed from Tokyo, Yokohama, and Chiba to the Pacific Ocean and beyond.-Geography:...

, with its light visible as far as the Bōsō Peninsula

Boso Peninsula

thumb|Locationthumb|Landsat image with high-resolution data from Space Shuttle is a peninsula in Chiba prefecture on Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It forms the eastern edge of Tokyo Bay, separating it from the Pacific Ocean....

 on the eastern shore of the bay. The original structure was destroyed during the Great Kanto Earthquake on September 1, 1923 and was replaced with the current reinforced-concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 structure on July 4, 1925. The lighthouse has been unmanned since 1991.

It is currently maintained by the Japan Coast Guard

Japan Coast Guard

The , formerly the Maritime Safety Agency, is the Japanese coast guard. Comprising about 12,000 personnel, it is under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and is responsible for the protection the coast-lines of Japan...

.

External links

photo page Lighthouses in Japan