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), 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. Smallest of the Japanese main islands, Shikoku is divided into four of Japan's 47 prefectures. This page includes lighthouses of Kagawa Prefecture at the northeastern end of the island. Facing north on the Seto Inland Sea, Kagawa has many ports both large and small between its prominent and scenic headlands. Takamatsu, the capital of the prefecture, is also the largest port. 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 kō or minato is a harbor. Lighthouses in Japan are operated and maintained by the Japanese Coast Guard's Maritime Safety Agency. There is at least one Coast Guard Section Office in each prefecture, often two or more. Kagama has one office, at Takamatsu. Several of the prefecture's island lighthouses are maintained by the Tamano office on the north side of the Seto Inland Sea in Honshū. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. JCG 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.
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![]() Namari Kō Light, Mitoyo, June 2011 ex-Panoramio photo copyright mandegan; used by permission |
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![]() Sanuki Misaki Light, Mitoyo, February 2018 Google Maps photo by Tadashi Kawata |
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![]() Habushi Iwa Light, Marugame Japanese Coast Guard photo |
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![]() Nabe Shima Light, Sakaide Japanese Coast Guard photo |
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![]() Tamamo Breakwater Light, Takamatsu, July 2022 ex-Google Maps photo by Shūji Ōtani |
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![]() Umaga Hana Light, Sanuki Japanese Coast Guard photo (no longer online) |
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Shōdo Islands Lighthouses
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![]() Kurakake Hana Light, Kagawa District Japanese Coast Guard Tamano Office photo |
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Information available on lost lighthouses: Notable faux lighthouses: |
Adjoining pages: North: Okayama | East: Tokushima | South: Kōchi | West: Northern Ehime
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Posted April 23, 2007. Checked and revised January 19, 2024. Lighthouses: 54. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.