A Brick Keeper's House from Japan's First Lighthouse Era
At the open-air Meiji Mura museum near Inuyama, among streets of relocated nineteenth-century buildings, stands a low brick house with a veranda across its front. It does not look Japanese, and that is the point. This is the Former Sugashima Lighthouse Attendant's Quarters, built in 1873 to house the men who tended one of the country's earliest Western-style lighthouses.
The quarters were raised on Sugashima, an island in the mouth of Ise Bay off Toba in Mie Prefecture, at the same time as the Sugashima Lighthouse itself. Construction followed the guidance of Richard Henry Brunton, the Scottish engineer who oversaw the building of roughly thirty lighthouses during his nine years in Japan and is remembered as the father of the country's lighthouse network. He was among the very first foreign specialists the Meiji government engaged, and he turned his hand to the planning of the Yokohama foreign settlement as well.
The designated property takes in the brick main quarters, with five principal rooms, a kitchen and storage, together with a separate brick storehouse that served as an oil store. That outbuilding is a single-story structure of about 11.4 square metres under a pantile roof, small but built to the same standard as the house.
Why the Building Was Designated
The quarters entered the national register on 25 April 1968, valued as a typical and well-preserved example of an early Meiji lighthouse residence, with exterior detailing of real quality. The walls are laid in English bond, the brick pattern that alternates courses of headers and stretchers, and a timber Western roof truss carries the pantiles above.
The colonial character shows in the openings. Doorways onto the veranda pair inner glass doors with outer louvered shutters and are topped by semicircular fanlights; the windows are sash type, also shuttered, with their brick heads laid as flat arches. Outside, the building wears white paint, while the interior joinery and skirting are finished in mokume-nuri, a wood-grain imitation paint favoured in the buildings of the lighthouse bureau. The bricks and tiles were made in Japan, by the tile maker Takeuchi Sentarō on the nearby island of Watakanojima, and some carry his stamp.
One detail of the designation is easy to miss: a bronze sundial on a stone base is listed as an attached item, the kind of instrument that became standard at lighthouse stations in the early Meiji years. At Meiji Mura it is shown indoors, in the museum's Mie Prefectural Office building, rather than beside the quarters.
What to Look For on a Visit
Stand in front of the veranda and read the building as its first occupants would have. The shutters and fanlights, the sash windows, the white-painted brick: every part of it announces a way of living imported wholesale, set down on a small island for the handful of keepers who kept the light burning. Step closer to the brickwork and look for the maker's marks that tie this very Western form to a kiln a short boat ride away.
It helps to keep the quarters distinct from the lighthouse they once served. The Sugashima Lighthouse still stands on its island and was itself designated an Important Cultural Property in 2022, recognised as the oldest working brick lighthouse in Japan. The quarters, by contrast, were moved here: transferred to the museum in 1959 and reassembled by 1964, so that a visit to Meiji Mura is the way to see them today. Opening hours and admission follow the museum's schedule, which is worth checking in advance.
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Q&A
- Is this the Sugashima Lighthouse itself?
- No. This is the attendant's quarters that stood beside the lighthouse. The lighthouse remains on Sugashima island and is a separate Important Cultural Property, designated in 2022.
- Where can I see the building now?
- At the Meiji Mura open-air museum in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, where it was reassembled by 1964.
- Who was Richard Henry Brunton?
- A Scottish engineer hired by the Meiji government who directed the building of about thirty lighthouses and is called the father of Japan's lighthouse system.
- Were the bricks imported?
- No. The bricks and tiles were made in Japan, by a tile maker on the nearby island of Watakanojima, and some bear his stamp.
- What is the sundial mentioned in the designation?
- A bronze sundial on a stone base, registered as an attached item. It is displayed in the museum's Mie Prefectural Office building.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Sugashima Lighthouse Attendant's Quarters |
|---|---|
| Location | Uchiyama 1, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture (Meiji Mura) |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (building), designated 25 April 1968 |
| Date | Meiji period, 1873; relocated and reassembled by 1964 |
| Form | Brick construction, English bond, pantile roof; main quarters with a separate brick storehouse (about 11.4 m²). Attached: a bronze sundial |
| Owner | Meiji Mura (public-interest foundation) |
| Access | Within the Meiji Mura museum; hours and admission follow the museum schedule |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/1247
- Meiji Mura, Sugashima Lighthouse Attendant's Quarters
- https://www.meijimura.com/sight/菅島燈台附属官舎/
Last verified: 2026.06.24
Cultural Treasures in the Same Area
All are within walking distance in the same area, so we recommend visiting them together.
- Former Sugashima Lighthouse Official Residence Main house 0.01 km