Nosappumisaki Lighthouse, Maritime guidance structure at Cape Nosappu, Nemuro, Japan

Nosappumisaki Lighthouse is a white tower-form concrete lighthouse, 13.5 m tall from ground to top, with a fourth-order Fresnel lens and a light 23.2 m above the sea. It stands at the tip of Cape Nosappu in Nemuro, Hokkaido, at the easternmost point of Japan excluding the Northern Territories and Minamitorishima. Its light shows equal white and red intervals of three seconds each, reaching 14.5 nautical miles.

The lighthouse was built in 1872 to a design by British engineer Richard Henry Brunton, who shaped much of Japan's early lighthouse network during the Meiji period. It was one of the first permanent navigation aids placed on this remote northern coastline.

Cape Nosappu is the easternmost point of Hokkaido, and on a clear day the islands of the Southern Kurils are visible just across the water from the lighthouse. For many Japanese visitors, standing here carries a strong sense of looking toward a place that remains a subject of national memory.

The cape and lighthouse are reachable on foot from the nearest stop, but the wind here can be strong in any season, so warm layers are worth having. Facilities on site are limited, so it is a good idea to bring anything you might need before arriving.

The first light on 15 August 1872 came from an octagonal wooden tower designed by Richard Henry Brunton, the first Western-style lighthouse in Hokkaido. It was rebuilt in concrete on 3 November 1930 and automated in April 1998. The site was added to the Japan Society of Civil Engineers' list of selected civil engineering heritage in September 2025.