A Lighthouse Built in Three Months
The Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse (明治村小那沙美島燈台, Meijimura Konasamijima Tōdai) is a cast-iron light tower at the Meiji Mura Museum in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, first lit in 1904 on a small island in Hiroshima Bay and entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2004.
The island it came from is a speck. Konasami lies roughly 9 km southwest of the port of Hiroshima, in the middle of the Itsukushima Strait, a channel about 1 km wide separating the mainland from the island of Itsukushima. The Aichi prefectural cultural property record notes that it now goes by a different name, Enoshima. The light stood at the summit, about 30 meters above the water.
Why light a strait like that at all? Meiji Mura points to 1888, when the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy moved to Etajima in Hiroshima Bay and the surrounding waters took on military weight. The specific push came later and faster. According to the Aichi record, work began in December 1903, and the lamp was first lit on 1 March 1904. The Russo-Japanese War had opened on 6 February of that year. The whole tower went up in about three months.
It was dismantled in 1964 and re-erected at Meiji Mura in 1976, where the Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse now stands on plot 53 in the fifth district of the grounds.
Why It Was Registered
Registration came on 17 February 2004, in the fortieth round of listings, under registry number 23-0105. The criterion applied was that the structure would not be easy to recreate. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records the Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse as iron with a copper-sheet roof, 6 meters high, counted as one structure rather than one building, and classifies it under transport rather than architecture.
The reasoning behind the listing turns on how it was made. The Agency's summary states that the schedule and the site conditions dictated an assembly-kit approach, and the Aichi record calls it a prefabricated tower carried up and stacked on the island's summit. Nothing about it was cast on site. Every part came from a foundry, went onto a boat, went up a hill, and was bolted together.
That makes the Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse a document of Japanese industrial capability in 1904 as much as a navigational aid. A country that could not cast, machine and ship these components would have had to build in masonry and would have taken a year over it.
What to Look For
Count the joints. The shaft of the Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse is four cylindrical sections stacked one on another, each 50 centimeters to 60 centimeters across, and the seams between them are visible from the ground. This is the whole logic of the design in plain sight: nothing longer than a section had to be lifted at once.
Above the shaft sits the inspection gallery, carried on six mochiokuri brackets that splay out from the top cylinder. The lantern above it is glazed with eight curved panes, of which two open. Curved glass in 1904 was not a casual purchase, and the fact that the ring is unbroken by flat panels is worth a moment.
The roof deserves the same attention. A conical canopy of copper sheet caps the lantern, doubled in section to shed rain and to keep heat off the glass, and a spherical finial sits on top of it. The finial is not decoration. It is the exhaust, with a cylinder set through the centre of the outer sphere to draw off fumes.
The lamp burned acetylene gas behind a Fresnel lens, and the Aichi record specifies that it was a fixed light rather than a revolving one. Standing beside the Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse at ground level is a slightly odd experience, because a structure designed to be read from several kilometres out at sea is here close enough to touch.
One measurement to carry with you: the Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the height as 6 meters, while the Aichi prefectural record gives an overall height of about 6.7 meters. The difference is probably a matter of where the measurement starts.
Visiting
The Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse stands outdoors in the fifth district of the Meiji Mura Museum grounds, inside the paid area, and cannot be visited on its own. Admission is 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students and 700 yen for junior high and elementary school students; preschool children enter free. Prices were checked on 3 September 2026.
Because the tower is in the open air, it can be seen from every side for as long as the museum is open. There is no interior to enter and no stair to climb. Opening hours run 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from April through July and again in September and October, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in August, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in November with Saturdays and holidays extended to 5:00 p.m., 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from December through February, and 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in March. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing, and closing days fall irregularly through the year.
Personal photography is free and needs no permit. The museum's restrictions on tripods apply to building interiors, entrances and narrow passages, so an outdoor structure like this one is straightforward to shoot. Commercial photography requires an application at least two weeks in advance.
The fifth district sits at the far end of the grounds from the main gate, and the walk there involves slopes and steps; the museum warns that its terrain is not fully barrier-free. Rides operate within the grounds for visitors who would rather not cover the distance on foot. Getting to the museum itself takes about 20 minutes by Gifu Bus from the east exit of Meitetsu Inuyama Station, with direct services also running from Nagoya Station and Sakae; by car it is 3 km from the Komaki-higashi interchange on the Chūō Expressway, with parking at 1,000 yen for a standard car.
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Q&A
- Where did the Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse originally stand?
- On Konasami, a small island in Hiroshima Bay about 9 km southwest of the port of Hiroshima, in the middle of the Itsukushima Strait. It sat at the island's summit, roughly 30 meters above sea level, and was taken down in 1964.
- How tall is the Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs records the height as 6 meters. The Aichi prefectural cultural property record gives an overall height of about 6.7 meters. The shaft is made of four stacked cylinders 50 centimeters to 60 centimeters in diameter.
- Can I climb the Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse?
- No. The tower is displayed as an outdoor exhibit with no public access to the gallery or lantern, but you can walk around it freely and see the whole structure from ground level during opening hours.
- Why was the Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse built so quickly?
- It was put up during the opening weeks of the Russo-Japanese War. Work began in December 1903 and the light was first lit on 1 March 1904, the war having started on 6 February. Prefabricated cast-iron sections made the three-month schedule possible.
- What is the designation status of the Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse?
- It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, entered on the national register on 17 February 2004 under registry number 23-0105. It is not an Important Cultural Property; registration and designation are separate systems.
Basic Information
| Name | Meiji Village Konasami Island Lighthouse |
|---|---|
| Location | Meiji Mura Museum, 1 Uchiyama, Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structures) |
| Year Designated | 2004 |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Height 6 meters |
| Owner | Meiji Mura Public Interest Foundation |
| Public Access | Outdoor exhibit, viewable from all sides; no access to the interior |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003871
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Conservation and Use of Modern Cultural Heritage
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/kindai/todai/030/index.html
- Cultural Heritage Online
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/141141
- Aichi Prefecture, Cultural Property Navi Aichi
- https://jmapps.ne.jp/aichi_bunkazai/det.html?data_id=1917
- Meiji Mura Museum, Konasami Island Lighthouse
- https://www.meijimura.com/sight/%E5%B0%8F%E9%82%A3%E6%B2%99%E7%BE%8E%E5%B3%B6%E7%87%88%E5%8F%B0/
- Meiji Mura Museum, Opening Hours and Closing Days
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/open/
- Meiji Mura Museum, Admission and Tickets
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/price/
- Meiji Mura Museum, Access
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/access/
Last verified: 2026.09.03