Izumo Hinomisaki Lighthouse

The lighthouse stands on a cliff at the westernmost tip of the Shimane Peninsula, at the tip of Himisaki, a scenic spot in the national park.
Selected as one of the 100 best lighthouses in the world and one of the 50 best lighthouses in Japan, it is one of Japan’s representative lighthouses and was first lit in 1903.

It is the tallest stone lighthouse in Japan, standing 63.30 meters from sea level to the light in the tower and 43.65 meters from the ground to the top of the tower.

Designed and built by Japanese, it is made of tuffaceous sandstone from Shimane, built on a columnar-jointed quartz hornblende base, and has withstood the wind and snow for more than 100 years.

Because of its high historical and cultural value, it is a Grade A preserved lighthouse and is designated as a National Important Cultural Property and a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property.
It is also a first-class lighthouse with the largest first-class lens, one of only five in Japan.

It is one of only 16 lighthouses in Japan that can be climbed. Inside the lighthouse, there are 163 spiral stairs that lead up to the observation deck at the top of the lighthouse.

The view from the observatory is truly spectacular, with a panoramic view of the Japan Sea and the Shimane Peninsula below, the Chugoku Mountains to the south, and the Oki Islands in the far north on a clear day.

A telescope on the ocean side below the lighthouse allows visitors to see large ships sailing offshore and, depending on the season, flocks of petrels.

The lighthouse information exhibition room has panels and videos showing the history and structure of the lighthouse. The panoramic view of the lighthouse is also shown in a large pictorial book, a cutaway model of the lighthouse, aerial photographs of the lighthouse, a panoramic gallery of the lighthouse, and the story of Himinomizo.