October 16, 2024
YOKOHAMA – For over a century, a lighthouse standing near the tip of a breakwater has offered safety as a beacon for incoming and outgoing vessels to and from the port of Yokohama, which has a long history as a gateway to the seas of Japan.
The lighthouse is commonly known as Akatodai, or red lighthouse, because of its bright red color. It has a lovely form with a wide base that gently tapers off as the structure rises.
On May 16, 1896, it was lit up and became the nation’s first lighthouse built on a breakwater. Many lighthouses were built in Tokyo Bay around the same time, but most of them collapsed during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. The red lighthouse remained intact and is the oldest existing one in the bay.
The steel lighthouse is sturdier than ones made of stone, according to Masaya Nakazato, chief of the traffic division at the Yokohama Coast Guard Office. The division oversees the lighthouse’s maintenance. “Even after the 1923 earthquake, the light remained on for about two weeks until the gas ran out,” Nakazato said.
Officials of the Yokohama Coast Guard Office inspect the Yokohama Kita Suitei Lighthouse in Yokohama on July 11. THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
I got to tour the lighthouse with permission from the relevant authorities. Among the equipment on the first to third floors is a wireless device that monitors the light and is checked by the coast guard office on a regular basis for any issues such as lack of charge.
You can see the city of Yokohama from the balcony on the fourth floor.
The white lighthouse now serves as a tourist spot. THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
Yokohama Higashi Suitei Lighthouse, also known as Shirotodai (white lighthouse), used to be visible, too. Originally located about 240 meters away, Shirotodai moved after its service ended in 1963. It now stands at the pier of the Nippon Yusen KK’s NYK Hikawamaru, a retired ship, at the port.
The red lighthouse is equipped with an illuminance sensor that allows an LED lamp to send light as far as about 7.4 kilometers in two-second intervals when it becomes dark.
In recent years, the importance of lighthouses has decreased due to the development of navigation instruments, but Nakazato said that it is more reassuring at the end of the day to confirm things with human eyes rather than with radar.
The role of lighthouses is expected to remain the same in the future.
Yokohama Kita Suitei Lighthouse
Location: Yokohama Port
Memo: You can see the red lighthouse from various areas along the coast, including Yamashita Park. The white lighthouse stands near NYK Hikawamaru, about a five-minute walk from Motomachi-Chukagai Station on the Minatomirai Line.