Hikes in Japan: The Kyogamisaki Lighthouse Trail

Basic Information

• Name: Kyogamisaki Lighthouse Trail
• Where: Kyogamisaki, Japan
• Distance: 1.5 miles (2.4 km)
• Elevation Gain: 411 feet (125 meters)
• Max Elevation: 578 feet (176 meters)
• Difficulty: Easy
• More Information: Visit Kyotango website

Google Earth Map of the Trail

Directions

The easiest way to access the Kyogamisaki Lighthouse Trail is to drive since it is located in such a remote part of Japan on the Tango Peninsula.  It is possible though to take a train to the small town of Kyotango and from there take a local bus to the lighthouse.  For those that drive though there are rewarded with views of one of the most beautiful coastlines in all of Japan.  I found myself continuing pulling over to take pictures of the incredible coastline.

Parking

The trailhead for the Kyogamisaki Lighthouse Trail has a large parking lot that was very busy the day I visited, but still had open parking spaces available.  If parking is full there is even more parking located across the street from the beginning of the access road to the lighthouse.  Parking here would require visitors to walk about a half mile down the access road to reach the trailhead.

Narrative

A real off the beaten path place to visit in Japan that is so close to one of its most popular locations is the Tango peninsula.  This peninsula is extremely beautiful and popular place for people from the major Japanese tourism center of Kyoto to visit on the weekends.  On the far tip of the Tango peninsula is one of the must see tourist sites, the Kyogamisaki Lighthouse.  According to the signboard at the trailhead that leads to the lighthouse, it was built in 1898 from stones quarried from the nearby hillside:

The area that the lighthouse is located is called Sodeshi Park, but it is actually part of the wider Tango-Amanohashidate-Oeyama Quasi National Park:

At the trailhead there is a big sign pointing out the distance to the summit observatory and the lighthouse:

It was an absolutely beautiful day to take a short hike, so I departed and began ascending the staircase at the start of the trail:

I soon had a nice view of the nearby coastline:

I then came to a trail intersection where going right would take me to the lighthouse and going left led to the observatory on top of peak above the lighthouse:

I decided to go to the observatory first and thus took the left trail and followed a staircase up the hill side:

As I ascended up the stairs I had a view of the Kyogamisaki Lighthouse down below me:

The trail then came to another intersection where I made a left to head to the observatory:

The trail to the observatory was in great shape and easy to follow:

I soon saw the observatory ahead of me:

The observatory provided some really good views of the surrounding coastline:

Below is the view of the coastline where the actual village of Kyogamisaki is located at:

Below is a closer look at the small fishing village of Kyogamisaki:

The observatory also provided a good view of the U.S. Army’s Kyogamisaki Communications Site located along the Tango peninsula coastline:

After taking in the views from the observatory I then proceeded to follow the trail towards the lighthouse.  Along the way I passed this small building located just above the lighthouse:

The trail then further descended to the lighthouse:

I next walked over to the lighthouse and surprisingly found no people there despite the parking lot being quite busy when I arrived.  Here is a wide angle view of the lighthouse’s grounds:

The Kyogamisaki Lighthouse is one of five lighthouses in Japan that use the rare Fresnel lens to warn ships of the rocky coastline:

Here is a view of the coastline from the lighthouse:

Here is a view of the Sea of Japan as seen from the Kyogamisaki Lighthouse:

Since I had the lighthouse all to myself I decided to take out my DJI Mini Pro 3 drone and get some aerial footage of the area.  This first picture shows the Kyogamisaki Lighthouse from above:

I then flew my drone out over the ocean to get a look at how the lighthouse looks from the sea:

Here is what the front of the Kyogamisaki Lighthouse looks like:

This next picture shows how the coastline near the lighthouse looked more impressive from the air. At the bottom right of the below photograph the parking lot for the Kyogamisaki Lighthouse Trail can be seen:

I next flew my drone up above the mountain behind the lighthouse.  Here is a view of the observatory located on the summit of the mountain:

This final drone picture I took is a panorama of the Tango peninsula with the Kyogamisaki Lighthouse visible in the center of the photo:

After spending about 45 minutes at the lighthouse taking in the views and flying my drone I then decided to make the easy hike down the hill back to the parking lot to complete my short hike:

Conclusion

The Kyogamisaki Lighthouse Trail may be a short hike of only 1.5 miles, but it is a fun one to complete.  This is because the trail has an interesting lighthouse to explore and provides sweeping views of the Tango peninsula and the surrounding ocean.  This is definitely a must do hike for anyone visiting this beautiful part of Japan.