Lighthouses of Japan: Tōkyō

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 Tōkyō Metropolis including the capital city of Tōkyō. This metropolitan area faces eastward on Tōkyō Bay.

Note: the Izu and Ogasawara Islands, stretching far into the Pacific south of Tōkyō, are attached administratively to Tōkyō Metropolis. Lighthouses of these islands are listed on a separate page.

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 or minato is a harbor.

Lighthouses in Japan are operated and maintained by the Japanese Coast Guard's Maritime Safety Agency. On Honshu there is usually one Coast Guard Section Office in each prefecture, sometimes two. In this region the Coast Guard has offices at Tōkyō for Tōkyō Metropolis and at Yokohama and Yokosuka for Kanegawa Prefecture.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. JP 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
Lighthouse-Japan.com - Tōkyō
A comprehensive site with photos and notes from visits to many lighthouses.
Misty's Japanese Lighthouse Tour - Tōkyō
Photos and a few notes in English for lighthouses in all parts of the country.
Lighthouse Visits
This site has photos for many lighthouses in this area.
Online List of Lights - Japan - Honshu South Coast East Part
Photos posted by Alexander Trabas.
Lighthouses in Tokyō
Photos by various photographers available from Wikimedia
Japan: Modern Lighthouses
Historic postcard images posted by Michel Forand.
Leuchttürme Japans und Koreas auf historischen Postkarten
Historic postcard images posted by Klaus Huelse.
Google Maps
Satellite view of Tōkyō.

Ohse Saki Light, Tōkyō, January 2016
Google Maps photo by Wa Wa
Tōkyō Harbor Lighthouses
#Tōkyō East Passage (Tōkyō Gate) East Breakwater
1974. Inactive since 2014 and demolished in 2015. This was a 16 m (52 ft) round concrete tower with lantern and gallery. Entire lighthouse painted red. A 2010 photo is at right, Trabas has a photo, another photo and a distant view are available, there's a nighttime photo of both East Passage lighthouses, and Google has a 2013 street view. The spectacular Tōkyō Gate Bridge, under construction in the 2010 photo at right and completed early in 2012, crosses the harbor entrance adjacent to the East Passage breakwaters; the two lighthouses appear in Wikimedia's 2011 photo of the bridge. However, the bridge made the lighthouses obsolete, so they were deactivated in November 2014 and removed in 2015. Google has a satellite view of the former location at the end of the east breakwater at the main entrance to Tōkyō harbor. This site is accessible by walking the breakwater from Wakasu-kaihin Park. Site open. ARLHS JPN-1472; ex-JCG-2193; ex-Admiralty M6427.6; ex-NGA 5280.
#Tōkyō East Passage (Tōkyō Gate) West Breakwater
1976. Inactive since 2014 and demolished in 2015. This was a 16 m (52 ft) round white concrete tower with lantern and gallery. There's a nighttime photo of both East Passage lighthouses and Google has a 2013 street view across the harbor. Google has a satellite view of the former location at the end of the detached west breakwater at the main entrance to Tōkyō harbor. Accessible only by boat. Site closed. ARLHS JPN-1473; ex-JCG-2192; ex-Admiralty M6427.4; ex-NGA 5276.
Tōkyō East Passage Detached Breakwater West End
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 12 m (39 ft); red flash every 3 s. 8.5 m (28 ft) concrete post attached to a rectangular 1-story concrete equipment room. Entire lighthouse painted red. Trabas has a closeup 2014 photo and Google has a harbor view and a satellite view. Located at the west end of a detached breakwater within the harbor area, about 1 km (0.6 mi) northwest of the two breakwater lights (previous two entries). Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. ARLHS JPN-1471; JCG-2189.5; Admiralty M6427.8; NGA 5284.
Tokyo Gate East Breakwater Light
Tōkyō Gate East Breakwater Light (now lost), Tōkyō Harbor, July 2010
photo by souyas (no longer online)
#Tōkyō Outside Breakwater
Date unknown. Inactive since November 2010 and since removed. This was a 9 m (30 ft) round concrete tower, painted red. Google's satellite view shows only water; the breakwater has been removed as part of a harbor redevelopment project. Formerly located at the end of a detached breakwater in the West Passage, about 2 km (1.25 mi) southeast of the east breakwater light (next entry). Accessible only by boat. Site open. ARLHS JPN-1415; ex-JCG-2161.43; ex-Admiralty M6427.04; ex-NGA 5273.
#Tōkyō West Passage East Breakwater
1975. Inactive since 2017 and since removed. 16 m (52 ft) round cylindrical concrete tower with lantern and gallery. Entire lighthouse painted red. Google has a 2016 harbor view of the lighthouse and a satellite view of the former location. The lighthouse was deactivated in December 2017. Located at the end of a breakwater on the east side of the west entrance to Tōkyō harbor. Site status unknown. ARLHS JPN-1474; ex-JCG-2161; ex-Admiralty M6427.19; NGA 5272.
#Tōkyō West Passage West Breakwater
1981. Removed in 2017. 16 m (52 ft) round cylindrical concrete tower with gallery. Entire lighthouse painted white. Google has a distant 2016 harbor view of the lighthouse and a satellite view of the former location. The lighthouse was deactivated in December 2017. Located at the end of a breakwater on the east side of the west entrance to Tōkyō harbor. Site status unknown. ARLHS JPN-1476; ex-JCG-2160; ex-Admiralty M6427.17; NGA 5268.

Tōkyō City Lighthouses
* Jōtōmyō-dai (Chiyoda, Kudanshita)
1871. Inactive as a navigational aid for many years but a white decorative light is displayed. Approx. 12 m (39 ft) 2-stage rubblestone tower with lantern and double gallery. The lower half of the tower is square and tapered, while the upper half is octagonal cylindrical. A 2021 photo is at right, Feng Liao has a 2021 photo, Nelson Cunnington has a 2007 photo, Wikimedia has a photo, there's another closeup and an Instagram photo of the light in action, Michel Forand posted a historic postcard view, and Google has a street view and a satellite view. This lighthouse was built shortly after the Meiji Restoration (1866-69) restored the power of the Emperor and ushered in the start of the modernization of Japan. In other words, this is one of the first lighthouses built by Japanese in the modern era. According the Japanese text accompanying the photos each stone is inscribed with the name of the feudal clan that contributed that stone. The lighthouse was relocated a short distance across Yasukuni Street in 1930 as the area was developed. Today it is called Jōtōmyō-dai, "High Lantern." The lighthouse is located just north of Kitanomaru Park in the Kudanshita district within the Chiyoda ward of central Tōkyō, which also includes the Imperial Palace and the other principal buildings of the Japanese government. Shawn Hebrank, who visited in early 2010, reports that the lighthouse is not on any tourist maps, so some local knowledge may be needed to find it. Site open, tower closed. .

Jōtōmyō-dai Light, Tōkyō, April 2021
Instagram photo by miwayamaguchi38
* Anori Saki (2) (relocated)
1873 (Richard Henry Brunton). Inactive since 1948. Approx. 12 m (39 ft) old-style octagonal wood tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. T. Otsubo's 2017 photo is at right, a 2016 photo is available, T. Otsubo has a closeup photo, and Google has a street view and a satellite view. Originally built in southern Mie Prefecture south of Nagoya, this is the oldest surviving Western-style wooden lighthouse in Japan and the only survivor of several wooden towers designed by Brunton. Forand has a postcard view of the lighthouse at its original site. Replaced by a modern concrete lighthouse in 1948, it was later disassembled and rebuilt at the Museum of Maritime Science in the Odiaba district of Tōkyō, a neighborhood on several artificial islands in Tōkyō Bay that has become popular for its restaurants and other tourist attractions. Owner/site manager: Museum of Maritime Science (Fune-no-Kagakukan). Site open, tower closed.
* Ohse Saki (1) (replica, original lantern)
1879. Reactivated; focal plane unknown; flashing light, alternately red and white. Approx. 15 m (49 ft) round tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. A 3rd order Fresnel lens is mounted in the lantern.A 2016 photo is at the top of this page, Rob Johnson has a photo, another photo is available, Misty's Tour has a photo, and Google has a street view and a satellite view. This is a replica lighthouse carrying the original lantern. Prefabricated in France, the original lighthouse was built at the west end of Fukue Shima in Nagasaki Prefecture at the far southwestern corner of Japan (see the Gotō Islands page). Gunfire from a U.S. submarine shot the lantern roof off in 1945 but the lens was miraculously unharmed. In 1971 the light was replaced by a modern concrete lighthouse. The old lighthouse has been relocated to the Museum of Maritime Science in the Odiaba district of Tōkyō. Owner/site manager: Museum of Maritime Science (Fune-no-Kagakukan). Site open, tower closed.
* Lightship Tōkyō (lantern) (?)
1947. Decommissioned 1968. The mast and gallery, with light, was on display outside the Museum of Maritime Science in the Odiaba district of Tōkyō. Jim Smith contributed a photo from his visit in September 2016. It was apparently removed in connection with construction of new facilities, and its current location is not known. Information needed! Owner/site manager: Museum of Maritime Science (Fune-no-Kagakukan). Site open, tower closed.

Anori Saki Light, Tōkyō, November 2017
Google Maps photo by T Otsubo

Haneda Area Lighthouse
#Tōkyō (Haneda) (2?)
1968 (station established 1900). Inactive since October 2010 and demolished sometime in 2011. 32 m (105 ft) round cylindrical concrete tower with lantern and gallery, standing on a square platform supported by numerous concrete piles. Lighthouse painted white. Also on the platform was a circular harbor control building. Lighthouse-Japan.com's page has photos taken in 2010 but Google's satellite view shows only open water at the location. Built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the modern Japanese lighthouse service, this lighthouse replaced the former lightship Tōkyō. The Jenkins 1904 light list describes the original light as a "screwpile structure." Formerly located in Tōkyō Bay about 4 km (2.5 mi) southeast of the city's outermost artificial islands. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. ARLHS JPN-664; ex-JCG-2159; ex-Admiralty M6427; ex-NGA 5264.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: East: Chiba | South: Kanagawa

Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key

Posted September 25, 2006. Checked and revised May 21, 2026. Lighthouses: 11, lightships: 1. Site copyright 2026 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.