Hario Towers

Above, the Hario Towers in 2007.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese fleet in the mid-Pacific Ocean launched an attack on the navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  This attack ushered in the entry of the United States into World War II.

The order for the attack was transmitted in code (“Climb Mount Niitaka 1208”)  by wireless shortwave radio from the Hario wireless telegraph station near Sasebo, Kyushu.  

The three Hario wireless towers stand at 446 feet.  Construction on the towers began in 1918 and completed in 1922.  The towers were decommissioned in 1997 and are now in the care of the Japanese Coast Guard.

Plans are underway to preserve the towers as cultural assets to teach future generations about World War II.

The towers were shown in Rodan (1956) during a fly-by scene of one of the Rodans (above) and during the aerial chase with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

I visited the area where the towers are located in April 2007 when I went to see the Saikai Bridge (featured in Rodan).  The towers are not far from the bridge (left).

The Hario Towers and Saikai Bridge are spotlighted on page 48 in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.