Lighthouses of Japan: Tsushima

Tsushima is a Japanese island located halfway between Kyūshū and South Korea. The island is about 130 km (80 mi) long and 15-20 km (9-13 mi) wide, hilly or mountainous in most areas. To the east, Tsushima is separated from the rest of Japan by the Tsushima Strait, and to the west it is separated from Korea by the Korea Strait. Sparsely populated with a permanent population of a little over 40,000, most of the island is included in the Iki-Tsushima Quasi-National Park. The island is nearly cut into two by a deep fjord called Aso Bay, and a canal has been built to complete the separation. The northern (and larger) section is called Kamino Shima, and the southern portion is Shimono Shima. Administratively, Tsushima is a city and a part of Nagasaki Prefecture.

In Japanese, the word for a lighthouse is tōdai or toudai (灯台). The words saki and misaki are for capes and headlands, shima (also spelled sima or jima) is an island, wan is a bay, and kō is a harbor. Lighthouses in Japan are operated and maintained by the Japanese Coast Guard's Maritime Safety Agency. There is at least one Coast Guard Section Office in each prefecture, often two or more. Tsushima has its own Coast Guard office.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. JCG numbers are the Japanese Coast Guard's light list numbers. Admiralty numbers are from volume M of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.

General Sources
Lighthouses in Japan - Nagasaki: A comprehensive site, almost entirely in Japanese.
Kiso's Lighthouses: This site has many excellent photos of Japanese lighthouses.
Japanese Lighthouse Index: An index to a large collection of photos; the lights are identified by the JCG number.
Tsushima Coast Guard Office - Tsushima: Photos and information about all the major lights of the island.

Tsushima Kuro Shima Light
Japanese Coast Guard photo

Kamino Shima East Coast Lighthouses
* Sita (Shita) Saki: 1964. Active; focal plane 23 m (75 ft); white light, 4 s on, 4 s off. 9.5 m (31 ft) round concrete tower attached to a 1-story concrete equipment room. Entire lighthouse is white. A good closeup is available, the Coast Guard has another closeup, Kiso has distant views from the sea (1/4 the way down the page), and Google has a very distant satellite view. Located on the northeastern tip of a peninsula (connected to the mainland by a very narrow isthmus) at the extreme northeast corner of Tsushima. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS JPN-588; JCG-6028; Admiralty M5065; NGA 12492.
Ikatsuchi (Ikatsuti) Saki: 1977. Active; focal plane 11 m (36 ft); red flash every 3 s. 9.5 m (31 ft) concrete post light attached to a square 1-story concrete equipment room. Entire lighthouse is red. The tower is not seen in Google's distant satellite view. Located at the tip of a headland on the north side of the entrance to the harbor of Kamitsushima, near the northeast corner of Tsushima. Probably accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS JPN-2185; JCG-6027; Admiralty M5062; NGA 12500.
Kuro Shima (Tsushima Kuroshima): 1951. Active; focal plane 144 m (472 ft); white flash every 3 s. 13 m (43 ft) 2-stage round cylindrical concrete tower with lantern and gallery. Entire lighthouse is white. The Coast Guard has the closeup photo appearing at the top of this page, and Google has a distant satellite view. Located at the eastern tip of an island about 2.5 km (1.5 mi) northeast of the Orise Hana lighthouse (next entry), which seems to have replaced this lighthouse as the primary landfall light for Tsushima. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS JPN-2212; JCG-6011; Admiralty M5052; NGA 12544.
Shimono Shima East Coast Lighthouses
Shimono Shima West Coast Lighthouses
* Gō Saki: 1960. Active; focal plane 27 m (89 ft); white light, 3 s on, 3 s off. 8.5 m (28 ft) round concrete tower centered on on a square 1-story concrete equipment room. Entire lighthouse is white. A closeup is available, the Coast Guard has additional photos, and Kiso has two photos (1/4 the way down the page), but the lighthouse is not seen in Google's distant satellite view. Located on a promontory on the south side of the entrance to Aso Bay. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS JPN-070; JCG-6045; Admiralty M5072; NGA 12608.
Imo Saki: 1977. Active; focal plane 13 m (43 ft); white flash every 3 s. 10 m (33 ft) round concrete tower attached to a small 1-story equipment room. Entire lighthouse is white. Kiso also has a photo (1/4 the way down the page), and Google has a distant satellite view of the location. Located at the tip of a long peninsula projecting into the south side of Aso Bay. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS JPN-2188; JCG 6044; Admiralty M5073.2; NGA 12612.
Nezumi (Mezumi) Shima: 1966. Active; focal plane 14 m (46 ft); white flash every 4 s. 13 m (43 ft) round concrete tower, attached to a small concrete equipment room. Entire lighthouse is white. The tower is not seen in Google's satellite view. Located at the northern tip of an island in the southern branch of Aso Bay. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS JPN-2224; JCG-6041; Admiralty M5073.4; NGA 12616.
Kamino Shima West Coast Lighthouses
Kuro Misaki: 1951. Active; focal plane 29 m (85 ft); white flash every 5 s. 12 m (39 ft) round cylindrical concrete tower with gallery. Entire lighthouse is white. Google has a very distant satellite view. Listed by NGA as Kuromi Saki. Located on a promontory on the north side of Aso Bay. Site status unknown. ARLHS JPN-2213; JCG-6042; Admiralty M5073.7; NGA 12620.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: Southeast: Northern Kyūshū | South: Nagasaki Area | Northwest: Changwon and Geoje Area (Korea)

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