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A profound lightness and darkness soaks into the classic streets of London. There is not any flashy propaganda, but the orange street lights in the late night fog bring the history of the city and its lights alive. The question now is how much further London is willing to renovate its historic streets. Light sneaking out from the pubs and alleyways conveys the flavor of London`s streetscape. It comes as a surprise that there are not more night viewing points along the Thames River. There are no observatories from which to view the entire city, creating a shortsighted view of the city. The stone facade of the architecture matches the fine light of the matiere.

10 December 2007 Winter Blues Winter is a cold and quiet time where people gather indoors, drink hot cocoa or coffee, and maybe reflect on the year before and ahead. But Christmas in the city always gives us something to get out and about and see?Christmas illuminations. The Lighting Detectives gathered in Roppongi to shake off some of those winter blues and experience the new trends in Christmas illuminations. We tackled the big two: Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown. Tokyo Midtown The theme for Tokyo Midtown was “Someone is always Santa Clause for someone else;” a lovely theme, but not very decipherable from the illuminations. A quick overview includes a sparkling rendition of the aurora borealis in the Plaza, a colorful display of stained glass in the Galleria, and a brilliant blue Milky Way in the Garden. In the image of the northern lights a dangly curtain of waves and motion was hung in the plaza. The installation seemed more crystal-like as the lights where mostly white colored. In the Galleria the Kiriko tree of cut stained glass continually changed colors and seemed to gather the most attention. At 8m tall it was quite impressive and visible from the far end of the garden. The ocean of little blue lights that covered most of the grassy area in the garden was actually the Milky Way with swirling stardust and shooting stars, all accompanied by music. Now this might have been…

The 53rd City Night Walk in Yokohama Bashamichi and Isezaki-cho 18.March.2016　　Yuki Takeuchi + Eiki Takeuchi + Ginko Mochizuki + Huang Simen + Shinichi Sakaguchi We divided into two groups walked in Bashamichi and the other two in Isezaki-cho, Northside and Eastside of JR Kannai Station in Yokohama. Those two areas are geographically close but have different characters. ■Over 150 years old gas lamps and early modern architectures create nostalgic scenarios in Bashamichi. Most elements and buildings have been modernized to suit for urban life style in Isezaki-cho. Both Bashamichi and Isezaki-cho are on the same stretch of the city, but have totally in contrast of these characters. We started exploring those two areas to find Heroes and Villains of light, and to reveal what kind of light defines the character of each area. Contrast between gas lamp and shop interior light. ■Bashamichi Area Bashamichi was the first place that gas lamps were installed in Japan. Before those gas lamps were produced in Japan, people carried portable lanterns with candle light. We started the walk, imagining how people felt when they saw gas lamps at the first time. Group 1 started at Kannai Station. Arriving at Bashamichi and walking further down to the junction, first light to note was stadium lighting. We still had a long distance to Yokohama Stadium though, the LED light from the stadium looked very bright and stinging to the eyes. The gas lamps installed along Bashamichi…

Date of Issue：03 July, 2019 ・Activity1／Vol.57 Night Walk：ＴＸ（Tsukuba Express）Area （05/12/2017） ・Activity2／Vol.55 Round Table Discussion （05/29/2017） 照明探偵団通信第80号　Download PDF Vol.57 Night Walk：ＴＸ（Tsukuba Express）Area The last developed major railway in the capital region, Tsukuba Express – The lighting for the development of railway line succeeded? 05/12/2017　Satoshi Tamura + Yusuke Wakata + Sinichi Sakaguchi + Tomoya Furukawa More than 10 years have passed since Tsukuba Express (EX) was opened in 2005. The areas along the railway line, where used to be vacant sites at EX opening time, are being developed. We explored the towns along the railway and new shopping mall to find out how the new towns have been developed from vacant sites, and how the urban lighting has been designed. Kashiwanoha-campus Station : T-site Apartment in Kashiwanoha : Does it affect for the balconies? Kashiwanoha : Temporary lighting with 3000K for the boundary wall of construction site Nagareyama-ōtakanomori SC : It’s new and we liked the overall lighting Nagareyama : The dark road in the old residential area ■Group A : Kashiwanoha-campus Station We walked around Kashiwanoha-campus Station. (Station square→LaLaport→Mitsui Garden Hotel→High-rise apartment area→T site→Station square) This area was designed as “Smart City”, and uniform color temperature using 3000K. It looked comfortable mood, and we expected we could find a lot of Heroes. The followings are “Hero and Villain”, which we found in this city walk. The designs of light pole in the station square and at the bus stop looked nice…

Roppongi has many faces including, an entertainment district with a foreign twist, new offices for daily business, and is developing as a center for the Tokyo art scene. The Lighting Detectives sped around on their bikes in April to discover what kind of light exists in this multi-functional area. The presence of the entertainment district is strongly felt at Roppongi intersection. Most people recognize this intersection as the center of Roppongi, but in recent years new development has created two new areas of focus, leaving the center of Roppongi very ambiguous. Points of reference include Mori Tower, Midtown Tower, Tokyo Tower and the metropolitan expressway, that cuts through, dividing this area of Tokyo. Large-scale luminous signage and a collage of other miscellaneous lighting dominate the view. Looking toward Roppongi from Aoyama Cemetery. The 3 towers that stand pronounced over Roppongi are a product of power and force, but appear alien in this setting. The towers look close and, yet, far off, as this scene can play tricks on your eyes.