Takashima Lighthouse , Vintage Japanese Matchbox Label Scented Candle | Meiji Era Maritime Archive

The Story

A lighthouse sweeps its beam across a moonlit harbor. A sailing ship passes in the distance. Mountains rise in the blue dusk. Manufactured by Takashima. Made in Japan. Trade Mark.

This Meiji-era label from the Ichinichi archive has always belonged on a candle. The lighthouse, the flame, the glow ,it was always going to end up here. On a periwinkle-blue label ground, the full color maritime scene takes on an almost otherworldly quality: the warm amber of the vessel pressing through the blue in the lit photo, the clear jar showing the label in clean daylight with the fairy lights catching the wax. Both versions are beautiful. Both feel like the right thing to have burning on a shelf at night.

Takashima produced for the export trade in the height of Meiji-era Japan and this lighthouse label is one of their most scenically ambitious designs, a tiny maritime world rendered with the patience and craft of a maker who understood that even a matchbox deserved a proper landscape.

Who This Is For

For the lighthouse lover, the maritime aesthetics collector, the Japanese vintage enthusiast, and anyone who appreciates the kind of home object that earns its place on a shelf by having a genuine story behind it. This candle makes an exceptional gift — for the sailor, the romantic, the slow living devotee, or the person who lights a candle every evening and deserves one this considered.

The periwinkle blue label ground makes this one of the most striking colorways in the Ichinichi candle collection , the yellow lighthouse and crimson oval frame glowing against the cool blue in a combination the original Takashima engravers would have approved of entirely.

Scent Options

Available in 9 scents to suit any space and mood. All scents share the same natural wax color, so the Takashima lighthouse keeps watch across every variant.

Product Details

• Wax: Premium coconut apricot wax — clean, long-lasting burn
• Wick: Cotton, lead-free and zinc-free
• Lid: Gold
• Vessels: Amber and clear glass
• Burn time: Up to 20 hours (4oz) · Up to 50 hours (9oz)
• Hand-poured in the USA
• Compliant with ASTM safety standards
• Assembled in the USA from globally sourced parts

Please note: All scents share the same natural wax color.