Richard Henry Brunton
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Richard Henry Brunton (26 December 1841 - 24 April 1901) FRGS from Scotland was the so-called "Father of Japanese lighthouses". Brunton was born in Muchalls, Kincardineshire, Scotland.[1] He was employed by the Japanese Government as an o-yatoi gaikokujin to build lighthouses in Japan.
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[edit] Early life
Brunton was born in the Coastguard House (now 11 Marine Terrace) at Muchalls, Fetteresso in The Mearns. After training as a railway engineer he joined the Stevenson brothers (David and Thomas Stevenson) who were engaged by the British government to build lighthouses.
[edit] Career
[edit] Life in Japan
Under pressure from British ambassador Sir Harry Parkes to fulfil its obligations to make the waters and harbors of Japan safe for shipping, the Japanese government hired the Edinburgh-based firm of D. and T. Stevenson to chart coastal waters and to build lighthouses where appropriate. The project had already begun under French foreign advisor Léonce Verny, but was not proceeding fast enough for the British.
Brunton was sent from Edinburgh in August 1868 to head the project after being recommended to the Japanese government by the Stevensons, and over seven and a half years designed and supervised the building of 26 Japanese lighthouses in the Western style, along with two lightvessels. (There had been Japanese lighthouses before then, but they were short and squat buildings, such as the old Shirasu lighthouse now in the grounds of Kokura castle in Kitakyushu.) Brunton was accompanied by his wife and two assistants.
Brunton also established a system of lighthouse keepers, modeled on the Northern Lighthouse Board in Scotland.
He was consulted on other engineering projects, and significantly contributed to the waterworks and harbour design in Yokohama, where he is remembered by a commemorative statue. He also helped found Japan's first school of civil engineering.
[edit] Return to Britain
After disgreeing with Japanese officials he left Japan in March, 1876, later receiving a prize for his paper "Japan Lights".
On his return he first set up in Glasgow for Young's Paraffin Oil, before moving to South London in 1881 making architectural plasterwork, where he remained until his death. He is buried in West Norwood Cemetery, where his marble memorial there was restored by Yokohama Chamber of Commerce in 1991.
[edit] List of Brunton's Japanese Lighthouses
The names of the 26 lighthouses (Brunton's "children") constructed by Brunton, in order of north to south, and the names of their present locations after mergers of towns etc.
- Nosappumisaki, Nemuro, Hokkaidō, illuminated 15 August 1872
- Shiriyazaki, Higashidori, Aomori, illuminated 20 October 1876
- Kinkazan. Ishinomaki, Miyagi, illuminated 1 November 1876
- Inubohsaki, Choshi, Chiba, illuminated 15 November 1874
- Haneda, Ota, Tokyo, illuminated 15 March 1875, now extinguished
- Tsurugigasaki, Miura, Kanagawa, illuminated 1 March 1871
- Mikomotoshima, Shimoda, Shizuoka, illuminated 1 January 1870
- Irozaki, Minamiizu, Shizuoka, illuminated 5 October 1871
- Omaezaki. Omaezaki, Shizuoka, illuminated 1 May 1874
- Sugashima, Toba, Mie, illuminated 1 July 1873
- Anorisaki, Ago, Mie, illuminated 1 April 1873
- Tenpōzan, Minato-ku, Osaka, illuminated 1 October 1872, extinguished
- Wadamisaki, Suma-ku, Kobe, illuminated 1 October 1872, extinguished
- Esaki, Awaji, Hyogo, illuminated 27 April 1871
- Kashinozaki, Kushimoto, Wakayama, illuminated 8 July 1870
- Shionomisaki, Kushimoto, Wakayama, illuminated 15 September 1873
- Tomogashima, Wakayama, Wakayama, illuminated 1 August 1872
- Mutsurejima, Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, illuminated 1 January 1872
- Tsunoshima, Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, illuminated 1 March 1876
- Tsurishima, Matsuyama, Ehime, illuminated 15 June 1873
- Nabeshima, Sakaide, Kagawa, illuminated 15 December 1872 (now at Shikoku-mura)
- Hesaki, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka prefecture, illuminated 1 March 1872
- Shirasu, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka prefecture, illuminated 1 September 1873
- Eboshijima. Shima, Fukuoka, illuminated 1 August 1875
- Iojimazaki, Nagasaki, Nagasaki, illuminated 14 September 1871
- Satamizaki, Minamiosumi, Kagoshima, illuminated 30 November 1871
[edit] Memoir
Brunton wrote a memoir of his time in Japan, titled Pioneer Engineering in Japan: A Record of Work in helping to Re-Lay the Foundations of Japanese Empire (1868-1876). However, it was not published until the 1990s, when it was printed by separate publishers under two different names: Building Japan 1868-1876 and Schoolmaster to an Empire: Richard Henry Brunton in Meiji Japan, 1868-1876. (See below.)
The former, containing the text (with some modified spellings) as edited by William Elliot Griffis at the turn of the twentieth century, contains plates with photos and illustrations. The latter however, purports to be based on a manuscript predating the heavy editing of Griffis, while retaining updated versions of Griffis's footnotes.
- Building Japan 1868-1876 by Richard Henry Brunton with an introduction by Hugh Cortazzi, Japan Library Limited, 1991, ISBN 1-873410-05-0
- Schoolmaster to an Empire by R. Henry Brunton, edited by Edward R. Beauchamp, Greenwood Press, 1991, ISBN 0-313-27795-8
