Sakishima Beacons

Download coordinates as: The Sakishima Beacons (先島諸島火番盛, Sakishima-shotō hibanmui) are a network of eighteen observation platforms and beacons dating to the early Edo period and located in the Sakishima Islands, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

Erected in 1644 by the government of the Ryūkyū Kingdom at the instigation of the Satsuma overlords, at a time of international tension during the transition between the Ming and the Qing Dynasties of China, the beacons were responsible for monitoring and reporting on maritime traffic, with a view to restricting foreign vessels in accordance with the Tokugawa policy of sakoku, i.e. national seclusion.

[1][2][3] After an initial survey by the Council for the Protection of Cultural Properties in 1993, due to uncertainties over land rights and difficulties of coordination between the involved municipalities, it was not until 2007 that they were jointly designated an Historic Site.

[5][6][7][8] Records suggest that the beacon near Cape Hirakubo on Ishigaki was at one point manned by a team of four, who also slept on the site.

[7] A restaged beacon relay in November 2007 saw an attempt to pass signals along two routes: (1) Hateruma-Aragukusu (Shimoji)-Aragusuku (Kamiji)-Kuroshima-Taketomi-Ishigaki; and (2) Hatoma-Kohamajima-Taketomi-Ishigaki.