Shiriyazaki Lighthouse
lighthouse in Japan
Shiriyazaki Lighthouse (尻屋埼灯台, Shiriyazaki tōdai) is a lighthouse located on the outermost extremity of Cape Shiriyazaki, the northeasternmost point of Honshu, in Higashidōri, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It received protection as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2017.
History
Shiriyazaki Lighthouse was one of the 26 lighthouses built in Meiji period Japan by British engineer Richard Henry Brunton. Work began in June 1873. The lighthouse was completed on October 20, 1876 (after Brunton had departed from Japan), and was the first western-style lighthouse in the Tōhoku region. On November 20, 1877, a fog bell was installed due to the high incidence of fog and days of poor visibility in the area. This was the first fog bell in Japan, but the sound proved to be too weak, so on December 20, 1879, it was replaced by the first fog horn in Japan. Other noteworthy events include the installation of the first electric power generator for a lighthouse in Japan in 1901.
In 1945, during World War II, Shiriyazaki Lighthouse was bombarded by United States Navy warships, cracking its Fresnel lens and causing severe damage to its structure, killing its attendant. However, the following year, on several occasions, fishermen reported being able to see a light in the ruined lighthouse, which enabled them to land safely despite a deep fog.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q11464881. Authority coordinates are 41.430, 141.462. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2017, 1873, 1876 and 1877.
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This entry incorporates text from “Shiriyazaki Lighthouse” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.