Ishikari Lighthouse

Address: 29 Hamamachi, Ishikari, Hokkaido 061-3371

Open: Open 24 Hours

URL：https://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/01kanku/otaru/shoukai/toudai/06isikari.html

GPS: 43.2568970073894, 141.360577123479

Ishikari Lighthouse is a 13.5 meter high lighthouse located in Hamacho, Ishikari City, Hokkaido. It is located on the left (west) bank of the Ishikari River estuary. It is one of the preserved lighthouses (C rank) built in the Meiji era (1868-1912) and is the oldest existing lighthouse in Hokkaido.

History

The first light was turned on on January 1, 1892 (25th year of Meiji). It was built by the Hokkaido Government at the mouth of the Ishikari River, which was an important shipping route for inland water transportation. The original lighthouse was a wooden hexagonal lighthouse with two colors, black and white, and the lighthouse lens used was a “three-sided, one-layered” shape. In 1908, the lighthouse was rebuilt as an iron circular structure with a one-color white exterior. Along with this, the light was updated to a 6th magnitude flashlight lens (Fresnel lens) made by Babiye (English version). This lens was used until 1965, when the trains were electrified. In 1957, when the building was used as the setting for the film “Joy and Sadness, For Years and Years,” a pioneering color film in Japan (location shooting March 24-28), the color scheme was repainted red and white to look better on the screen, and has remained that way ever since. In 2017, the 125th anniversary of the lighting, it was repainted in the same red-and-white striped pattern as before. The lighthouse was unmanned in 1965 (Showa 40). Later, in 1999 (Heisei 11), the light was relocated 14 meters to the coast side for conservation purposes and relit. The light is currently operated by the LB-M30 model. Geography Hamanasu no Oka Park Visitor Center The park stands approximately 4.7 meters above sea level. The original location of the lighthouse was at the tip of the mouth of the Ishikari River, but in the more than 100 years since its construction, the sand carried by the Ishikari River and the strong winds and coastal currents from the Japan Sea have developed a spit at the mouth of the river, and the current location is about 1 km away from the mouth of the river. The 46-hectare area around the lighthouse has been developed as Hamanasu-no-Oka Park, of which 16.5 hectares is designated as the Ishikari City Seaside Vegetation Protection Area, and the Hamanasu-no-Oka Park Visitor Center is located near the lighthouse.

By Bus: Take the Ishikari Line of Chuo Bus from Sapporo Terminal (Odori Higashi 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo) (about 60 minutes), get off at Ishikari (the last stop), and walk 20 minutes.

By Car: From the Sapporo Kita IC of the Sapporo Expressway, drive 15 km on Route 231 (Ishikari Kaido) to the Hanakawa intersection, then 5 km on Route 225.

Parking for 50 cars

Sapporo River Office

Phone: 011-581-3235

Address: 2-1, Minami 32-jo Nishi 8-chome, Minami-ku, Sapporo 005-0032