R. H. Brunton and Others

Richard Henry Brunton (December 26, 1841 - April 24, 1901）came to Japan in 1868 as one of the "yatoi" to help designing and building modern lighthouses. He was involved in the construction of twenty-six early lighthouses. Most of them are still active at important locations. He is called the father of Japanese lighthouses.

Ayahiko ISHIBASHI (February 5, 1853 - November 25, 1932）was one of the earliest Japanese lighthouse engineers with formal higher education at "Kobu-daigakko," the College of Engineering. The president of the college was Henry Dyer（August 16, 1848 - September 25, 1918）from Scotland. It is unlikely that ISHIBASHI was trained by Brunton in person, but he was the successor of the legacy of Brunton for sure.

William Edward Ayrton (1847 - 1908) was another "yatoi," who taught phisics and electrical engineering in Kobu-daigakko. He is called the father of Japanese electrical engineering.

Osuke ASANO (March 8, 1859 - September 23, 1940) was one of the students of Ayerton at Kobu-daigakko and graduated from the college two years after Ishibashi graduated. He became the president of "Denki-shikenjo," the Insitute of Electric Experiments of the Ministry of Communication and Navigation.

His institute succeeded in developing radio equipment in Japan.
Ayahiko ISHIBASHI read papers on radio experiments written by Guglielmo Marconi, and asked ASANO to conduct research, because he thought radio was useful to relay messages between lighthouses.

ASANO later became the chief delagete of Japan in the the first International Wireless Telegraph Convention, held in Berlin in 1906.