Ruins of the First Lighthouse Keepers' Quarters
The site of the first lighthouse keepers’ quarters is on a cliff edge above the Pacific Ocean, separated from the lighthouse itself by a short stretch of ocean. The house was designed and built by the British along with the lighthouse in 1871. The structure was made of stone with a single floor, roughly 70 meters square. It faced east towards the village of Tajiri. The residence was isolated and surrounded by pristine forests and steep cliffs. The Japanese and English families that worked here lived separately, as was the custom of the era. Though only part of the stone walls remains, the first lighthouse keepers' quarters are an important cultural and historical landmark.
Cape Sata Lighthouse
Sitting on a small island just off the southernmost tip of Osumi Peninsula, the Cape Sata Lighthouse is one of the oldest Western-style lighthouses in Japan. This was one of a number of lighthouses built after the opening of Japanese waters to foreign ships in the Meiji period (1868–1912) to fulfill Japan's treaties with foreign powers to improve the safety of coastal waters. The Cape Sata lighthouse protected ships passing Cape Sata headed for Shanghai and other distant ports. Designed and built by Scotsman Richard Henry Brunton (1841–1901), the original structure was made of steel and completed in October 1871.
To allow the lighthouse keepers to reach the lighthouse, two gondolas were built to join Owajima, the rocky island upon which the lighthouse sits, with the mainland. The first gondola connected the southernmost tip of Cape Sata to the small island of Nakanoshima, while the second joined Nakanoshima to Owajima.
Destroyed in 1945 during a wartime attack, the Cape Sata lighthouse was rebuilt in concrete in 1950. Still in use, it has been unmanned since 1985.