As we’ve discussed a lot recently about the Japanese winter illuminations and lighting effects, it was a nice coincidence to visit the place of the first modern lighting in Japan - a gas lamp installed inside a traditional stone lantern…

The first Japanese building illuminated with gas was in Osaka, at the beginning of the Meiji Period, in 1872, 3 years before the same technology was used for an entire street, in Ginza, Tokyo.

But few people know that the very first gas lamp from Japan was experimentally installed in the Sengan-en garden from Kagoshima by Nariakira Shimazu, the 28th head of the Satsuma Clan. The lamp was placed inside this impressive stone lantern, with the top cover suggesting the wings of a crane…

Stone lantern, Sengan-en, Kagoshima

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: A vending machine per 23 people