A TWINNING agreement has been reached between lighthouses in Galloway and Japan.
The agreement between the Mull of Galloway Lighthouse and the Inubosaki Lighthouse, situated on Japan’s Pacific Coast, is the first of its kind.
The two countries have a proud shared heritage through the Stevenson family. The Stevensons were engineers to the Northern Lighthouse Board and were contracted by the Tokugawa shogunate to chart Japan’s coastal waters and to build lighthouses.
The Mull of Galloway Lighthouse was established in 1830 and engineered by Robert Stevenson.
In 1868, after receiving training from the Stevensons, Scottish engineer Richard Henry Brunton was sent from Edinburgh to lead the project. The Inubosaki Lighthouse was later designed and built by Brunton in 1874. It served as the most important coastal lighthouse to support the safety of maritime traffic in the Pacific Ocean approaches, from and to Tokyo Bay, an important location for Japanese shipping industry and economy.
Mike Bullock, chief executive of the Northern Lighthouse Board, which manages the Mull of Galloway Lighthouse, said: “This historic agreement marks a significant milestone in lighthouse collaboration. It is the first ever lighthouse twinning agreement in the world, and along with the Mull of Galloway Trust, we are honoured to be partnering with the Japan Coast Guard and the Tokokai on this unique initiative.”
The signing of the agreement took place in an online ceremony at the Mull of Galloway Lighthouse and at Japan Coast Guard Headquarters in Tokyo.
It is hoped other nations with a shared lighthouse heritage will follow and adopt similar agreements. Mr Bullock added: “The aim of bringing together the two lighthouses in this special partnership is to highlight the shared heritage between Scotland and Japan and to promote tourism in each other’s country.
“These two lighthouses were matched due to the impact they have on the local community and their importance to tourism and maritime history.”
