The nation of Japan, known in Japanese as Nihon or Nippon (日本), occupies an archipelago off the east coast of Asia. The four main islands are Hokkaidō in the north, Honshū (the largest) in the center, Shikoku in the south, and Kyūshū in the southwest. The country includes thousands of other islands of all sizes; among them the Ryūkyū (Nansei) Islands are a long chain extending to the southwest and including the large island of Okinawa, and the Nanpō Islands are another long chain extending south into the Pacific Ocean. Much of Japan is mountainous but the coastal regions are densely populated and urbanized; the country's population is about 126 million.
Japan is divided into 47 prefectures. This page lists lighthouses of the mainland portion of the Japanese prefecture of Shimane, which faces the Sea of Japan on the far southwestern coast of Honshū. This is a rugged and beautiful coast, with many small ports but only a few big ones. Hamada is the most important port in the prefecture. Because the prefecture has many lighthouses, it has three pages. This page is for the northern half of the prefecture in Izumo, Matsue, and Yasugi. The Southern Shimane page is for southern half in Masuda, Hamada, Gōtsu, and Oda. There is also a third page for the Oki Islands, which are governed as part of Shimane prefecture.
In Japanese the word for a lighthouse is tōdai or toudai (灯台). The words saki and misaki are for capes and headlands, hana ("nose") is a promontory, hantō is a peninsula, shima (also spelled sima or jima) is an island, bae is a reef, iwa or shi is a rocky reef, amase or se is a shoal, wan is a bay, nada is a sound or basin, kaikyō is a strait, kawa is a river, and kō or minato is a harbor.
Lighthouses in Japan are operated and maintained by the Japanese Coast Guard's Maritime Safety Agency. On Honshū there is at least one Coast Guard Section Office in each prefecture, often two or more. Shimane has one office at Hamada, but lights in the eastern half of the prefecture are maintained by the office at Sakai, located just over the border in Tottori Prefecture. All the lights on this page are maintained by the Sakai office.
A note on the Sea of Japan/East Sea controversy: The Directory takes no side in any international dispute; it makes use of the terminology, names, and spellings as they currently exist in each area covered. The sea between Japan and Korea is called the Sea of Japan on the pages for Japan and the East Sea on the pages for Korea.
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
- General Sources
- Lighthouse-Japan.com - Shimane
- Another comprehensive site with photos and notes from visits to many lighthouses.
- Lighthouse Visit
- Another fine source of lighthouse photos.
- Misty's Japanese Lighthouse Tour - Shimane
- Photos and a few notes for lighthouses in all parts of the country.
- Online List of Lights - Honshu - West Coast
- Photos by various photographers posted by Alexander Trabas.
- Lighthouses in Shimane Prefecture
- Photos by various photographers available from Wikimedia.
- Sakaiminato Area Lighthouses
- Photos posted by the Sakai Coast Guard Office.
- Japan: Modern Lighthouses
- Historic postcard views posted by Michel Forand.
- Leuchttürme Japans und Koreas auf historischen Postkarten
- Historic postcard images posted by Klaus Huelse.
Mihonoseki Light, Matsue, April 2024
Instagram photo by kenchan_photolife
