Motta Misaki Lighthouse, Lighthouse in Shimamaki, Japan.

Motta Misaki Lighthouse is a large lighthouse with a pointed roof painted white and black, standing on the tip of Motta Misaki on the western side of the Oshima Peninsula in Hokkaido. It sits on a high point where the ridge of Mount Kariba, the highest peak in southern Hokkaido, drops into the Sea of Japan. Its tower top reaches 290 meters above average sea level, the highest in Japan.

Built in 1937 as a reinforced-concrete lighthouse, it was tended by keepers and their families who lived on site. In 1951, when the Yura Misaki Lighthouse was built in Hyogo Prefecture, it became Japan's second-highest in elevation. Machines automated it in 1963, making it unmanned. A 2001 rebuild replaced the roof section, and at 290 m from mean sea level to the top of the tower it became Japan's highest lighthouse by that measure.

The name Motta Misaki comes from the cape itself, at the tip of the Shimamaki coast in Hokkaido. The lighthouse stands within the Kariba-Motta Prefectural Natural Park, and its viewing deck looks out over the Sea of Japan coastline, Okushiri Island and the Shakotan Peninsula, with forest and autumn colours around it.

Access requires driving through a narrow paved forest road from Route 229, which closes during winter months due to weather conditions. Visitors should check seasonal availability before planning a visit.

The tower's top stands 290 metres above mean sea level, the highest of any lighthouse in Japan by that measure. The distinction dates only from August 2001, when a rebuild replaced the roof section. By focal height above the sea, the title belongs to the Akasaki Lighthouse in Hyogo Prefecture.