The Japanese Lighthouse is an abandoned lighthouse situated atop Navy Hill in

Garapan Garapan ( Old Japanese name: 柄帆町, ''Garapan-chō'') is the largest village and the center of the tourism industry on the island of Saipan, which is a part of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Garapan, as ...

, Saipan, in the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1974. The lighthouse is one of the few surviving pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, civilian structures built by the Japanese.

Design

The Japanese Lighthouse is an approximately white

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

tower with an attached to a one-story

lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

's quarters. The concrete used in the construction of the lighthouse was produced from burnt

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

and seashells, but weathers easily.

History

The lighthouse was constructed in 1934 to assist ships navigating into Tanapag Harbor on the western coast of Saipan. At the time, Saipan was governed by the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...

as part of its South Seas Mandate. The lighthouse was in operation until 1944 when it sustained damage from an American naval bombardment in the

Battle of Saipan The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June to 9 July 1944 as part of Operation Forager. It has been referred to as the "Pacific D-Day" with the ...

. During the war, the lighthouse was never rebuilt and, after the war, remained abandoned. The copper dome, however, was removed and put into storage. The Japanese Lighthouse was listed on the

on December 19, 1974. In 1990, the lighthouse was renovated and expanded to be used as a restaurant; the dome was returned to the top of the tower not long after. The restaurant was closed in 1994 to 1995. The

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

-covered lighthouse was repainted in 2007. It was proposed to be the location of a visitor center for the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument in 2010.

References

Sources

* ''(and )'' {{Authority control Lighthouses in insular areas of the United States Buildings and structures in Saipan Lighthouses completed in 1934 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in the Northern Mariana Islands World War II sites in the United States World War II on the National Register of Historic Places in the Northern Mariana Islands Garapan 1934 establishments in the Northern Mariana Islands

Design

History

See also

References

Sources