Miura southeast · MatsuwaNo.092★Open in map →
Tsurugisaki Lighthouse
A white lighthouse on the southeastern tip of the Miura Peninsula, southwest of Tokyo. One of Japan's earliest Western-style lights, it stands above a shelf of low rocks where Sagami Bay opens to the Pacific Ocean.
Tsurugisaki Lighthouse (also read Kenzaki) stands on a small cape at the southeastern tip of the Miura Peninsula. Here the ground drops to a broad shelf of low, flat rocks, and Sagami Bay opens toward the Pacific. The tower you see today is not the original: the first stone lighthouse was destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, and the current white eight-sided concrete tower was rebuilt in 1925. It is listed among Kanagawa's 50 Scenic Spots, an official prefectural list. On a clear day, the Boso Peninsula is visible lying low across the water.
Why it stays quiet
The buses toward this cape run only a few times a day, and from the stop it is a 15-to-20-minute walk down a lane to the sea, so few visitors make the trip. There is also little travel information about it in English. That is why the road and the shore usually stay empty.
Background & history
The lighthouse was built under the 1858 Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce and designed by Richard Henry Brunton, the British engineer behind many of Japan's first Western-style lighthouses. It was first lit on 1 March 1871 to guide ships approaching Tokyo Bay through the Uraga Channel. After the original stone tower fell in the 1923 earthquake, the present reinforced-concrete tower was completed in 1925 and is maintained today by the Japan Coast Guard.
What to look for — in walking order
- Lane down to the cape
- a quiet path through low farmland leading to the lighthouse from the bus stop
- White eight-sided tower
- the 1925 concrete rebuild of Japan's original 1871 stone lighthouse
- Rocky shore below
- a wide shelf of sea-worn flat rock with tide pools, reached by a footpath beside the lighthouse
- View across the bay
- the Boso Peninsula, low on the horizon across Sagami Bay, visible on clear days
How to enjoy it
You cannot enter the lighthouse, so the draw is the setting. Follow the footpath past the tower down to the rocks to look at the tide pools and the bay. A clear morning gives the best view across to the Boso Peninsula. Check the bus times before you leave, as the buses to the Tsurugisaki (Kenzaki) stop run only a few times a day.
How to actually get there
- Shinagawa Stn → Miurakaigan Stn (Keikyu Main Line rapid limited express, ~70 min).
- Miurakaigan Stn → Tsurugisaki (Kenzaki) bus stop (Keikyu Bus Umi-34/Umi-35, ~20 min).
- Tsurugisaki (Kenzaki) bus stop → the lighthouse (walk, ~15-20 min).
- Keikyu train + infrequent bus + walk
- Shinagawa Stn in Tokyo →(Keikyu Main Line rapid limited express toward Misakiguchi, ~70 min, no transfer)→ Miurakaigan Stn →(Keikyu Bus route Umi-34/Umi-35 toward Kenzaki or Misaki-Higashioka, ~20 min)→ Tsurugisaki (Kenzaki) bus stop →(walk ~15-20 min)→ the lighthouse. Total about 110 min. The buses run only a few times a day — check the day's timetable before you leave.
- Return the same way — buses are sparse
- Go back the same route: bus from the Tsurugisaki (Kenzaki) stop to Miurakaigan Station, then the Keikyu train to Tokyo. The return buses are also infrequent, so when you arrive check the return times posted at the stop. Services thin out in the late afternoon.
Before you go
- Cash
- Rural buses like this are often cash-only, so carry coins just in case. There are no shops at the cape, so bring your own water.
- Closing days
- The shore below the lighthouse is low, flat rock worn by the waves. The footing is uneven, there are no railings, and the sea is open — take care near the water.
- Another way
- A car or a rental bicycle removes the problem of the sparse bus timetable. Public transport works too, as long as you plan around the bus times.
- After you get off
- From the Tsurugisaki (Kenzaki) bus stop, walk about 15-20 minutes down a lane toward the sea to reach the lighthouse.