Climb spiral stairs to the top of a lighthouse
Sixteen of Japan's lighthouses, many built in the late 1800s to guide ships, are open for visitors to walk inside and climb. Wind up the narrow spiral staircase and step out onto the balcony at the top for a view of the horizon and passing ships. Entry is a small donation paid on the spot, and no booking is needed.
A white brick lighthouse first lit in 1874, with 99 spiral steps up to a balcony where the Pacific spreads out in a wide curve. It stands on a cape at the eastern tip of the Kanto region, about 10 minutes on foot from Inubo Station on the small Choshi Electric Railway. Direct buses also run from Tokyo Station, in about 2.5 hours.
A white lighthouse on the site of Japan's first Western-style lighthouse, reached by a path up through the woods. It looks down on the entrance to Tokyo Bay, where large cargo ships pass one after another through the narrow channel right below. It is on the Miura Peninsula, a bus ride from Keikyu Uraga Station, so it makes an easy day trip from Tokyo or Yokohama.
A white lighthouse near the southern tip of Honshu, Japan's main island, where from the top the horizon bends in a wide arc and the sea seems to meet the sky. On the lawn next to it you can watch the sunset. It is in Kushimoto, far south of Osaka, so it fits a trip around the Kii Peninsula.
At 44 m, the tallest stone lighthouse in Japan, standing on cliffs where the waves of the Sea of Japan break on black rocks. From the top you look down on the rocky coast and the deep blue sea. It is about 30 minutes by car or bus from Izumo Taisha, one of Japan's oldest shrines, so the two make a good day together.
A lighthouse at the far end of Tsunoshima, an island reached by a long bridge over clear blue-green water, with 105 steps up its spiral stairs. From the top the Sea of Japan spreads out around you. It is in western Yamaguchi, far from Osaka and Kyoto, and easiest to reach by car, driving across the bridge.
The tallest lighthouse in Okinawa, at a cape where cliffs of raised coral run for about 2 km above cobalt-blue water. From the top you can look far out over the East China Sea. It is about an hour's drive from Naha, so it fits a rental-car day on Okinawa's main island.