The Inubosaki Lighthouse in Choshi City, Chiba Prefecture, is one of the five lighthouses designated as National Important Cultural Assets in Japan.

Inubosaki Point, where the lighthouse stands, is located at the eastern end of Choshi City, which has prospered as a hub for water transport, a fishing port and soy-producing area since it lies along the mouth of the Tone River, Japan’s largest river.  However, fatal maritime accidents repeatedly happened in the nearby costal waters because of many sunken reefs. 

The authorities built the Inubosaki Lighthouse in 1874 to cope with this situation.  The lighthouse was designed and supervised by Richard Brunton, a specialist from the UK.  He adopted cavity wall structure with Japan’s first bricks to get high seismic performance.  The lighthouse, 32 meters tall, is Japan’s second tallest brick building after Shiriyazaki Lighthouse in Aomori Prefecture, and was designated as an Import Cultural Asset in 2020. 

In this connection, there are several rocks in the shallows beside the lighthouse as shown in the second photo.  The film clip that the violent waves are crashing against these rocks is used for the title background of Toei, one of the largest motion-picture companies in Japan.

Everybody in Japan knows this clip like the roaring lion of MGM, the snow mountain of Paramount and the torch lady of Columbia.

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