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Date of Issue: 04 December, 2023 -Activity 1 / City Night Survey – Taipei & Taichung, Taiwan（2023.10.30-11.04） -Activity 2 / Visiting Tanteidan in Ishigaki Island (2023.08.26) -Activity 3 / Online Lounge Talk (2023.11.27) Lighting Detectives Newsletter Vol.126 Download PDF City Night Survey – Taipei & Taichung, Taiwan 2023.10.30 – 11.04　Genki Watanabe＋Hikaru Kimura Taiwan is geographically close to Japan and has deep historical ties. It is famous for its skyscrapers such as Taipei 101 and, more recently, for buildings designed by Japanese architects. Renovations of old buildings are also being actively undertaken. We investigated how the mixture of old and new influences the light and human activity in the cities of Taipei and Taichung. Taipei and Taichung The capital of Taiwan, “Taipei” is characterized by world-class skyscrapers such as Taipei 101 and streetscapes that retain historical architecture. In addition to new buildings, there are also many renovations of existing buildings, creating a city with a mixture of old and new architecture. Taichung has become the second largest city in Taiwan in terms of population in 2017 as a result of government-led urban development efforts in recent years to disperse the over concentration of the metropolis in Taipei.We investigated how Taichung, planned as a compact city, affects the city’s light and human activity, and how it differs from Taipei’s light. Taipei’s Urban Area Taipei’s urban area can be roughly divided into two areas. The west side of the city is the Old City,…

Date of Issue：May 29, 2018・Activity 1／City Night Survey in Switzerland （2018/04/12-04/17） City Night Survey in Switzerland Zurich ⇒ Bern ⇒ Basel2018/04/12-04/17　　Yumi Honda + Kyoko Takubo We visited Switzerland in search of places with light where people gather. Celebrating the long-awaited arrival of spring, we found that more people than we expected were relaxing outdoors from morning until night. During the day, they enjoyed the abundant nature and beautiful cityscapes, soaking up the natural light. At night, people were chatting and laughing in a soft, gentle light. We climbed a dark hill for an elevated nightscape shot, but even there, it wasn’t tourists but locals who were gazing at the nightscape. We were able to find a city light in Switzerland that makes you want to spend a long, leisurely time there. People enjoying the sunset on the shores of Lake Zurich People Gathering on the Riverside in Basel, with Beers in Hand ■Waterside at DuskOn a warm spring evening, people gather on the shores of Lake Zurich. In open areas with a view, everyone enjoys the passing of time in their own way—a unique luxury. After the sun sets and the sky turns indigo, historical buildings from the Middle Ages are softly lit and reflected on the water’s surface. The reason this atmosphere can be enjoyed comes from a combination of historical background and urban planning.First, the number of cars is overwhelmingly small compared to other cities. The city is…

Date of issued：Mar.13, 2018 ・Activity 1／World City Survey: in Copenhagen/Stockholm（2017/12/02-12/09） ・Activity 2／The 59th City Night Walk ：Tokyo Illumination（2017/12/20） Lighting Detectives Report Vol.86　Download PDF Worldwide City Lighting Report in Copenhagen / Stockholm December 2-9, 2017　|　Written by: Hu Lin and Simeng Huang Located in high latitudes on the Northern Hemisphere, northern European countries including Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark are known to be very unique in terms of the seasonal natural phenomena – the midnight sun during the summer, and the polar night during winter. In this December, we went to some of the cities experiencing the polar night during winter to research lighting environment. Considering extremely long night hours can affect circadian rhythm, are city lighting and residential lighting in those countries designed to eliminate the problem? In this trip we closely looked at the light environment that are unique to Northern Europe, gained through observation of public facilities and residential lighting. Here is the research results. Christiansborg Palace Pole lamps at bicycle parking outside the Danish Parliament Catenary lighting illuminating the roadway ■Copenhagen, Denmark In Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, classic design and contemporary design co-exist, each divides the city into visually distinctive areas. An area across a canal is on a new development with various kinds of new buildings are being constructed. If you walk in this city, you will feel the history of Copenhagen and be convinced how this city takes creative culture so important. ■Classical Lighting Copenhagen…

Singapore has been aiming for a nightscape that catches the viewer wondering, “Is this Asia or western Europe?” In this city of perpetual summer, lighting and air conditioning are necessities to be a modern city. Singapore’s intentions are clear as it aims to create its unique urban nightscape. Looking towards Victoria Harbor from the Millennium Tower at the clean, beautiful cityscape of this modern Asian city. Development along the riverside is progressing. Color lighting along Boat Quay creates a lively atmosphere at night as the lights amplify the refections and movement on the water. The facade of restaurants along Chjmes. This vertical plane of light creates a luminous street.

2019.09.21　　Erina Hosono Group photo with the finished lanterns Our lantern festival ‘Let’s make vegetable themed lanterns!’ was held as a kid’s workshop on September 21st in Nerima Sakujiikoen Furusato Museum. This event had 52 children as participants, centered on those who are in their first and second year of elementary school, becoming our largest event to date. Including the staff and the parents/guardians of the children, it was a huge gathering of over a 100 people. The participants made vegetable themed lanterns and listened to the “Fire and Light lecture”. Did you know that Nerima’s urban agriculture is flourishing and has representative agricultural products such as daikon radish and green onions? The museum staff wanted to teach the kids about Nerima’s agricultural success through our lantern crafting session. Therefore, we prepared daikon radish, green onion, spikenard, corn, tomato, persimmon, and cabbage (all of which are Nermia specialties) themed crafting paper. Day of, the children pick a vegetable of their choice after signing up and spend around an hour crafting the lantern. At the orientation, we demonstrated the different styles of lanterns by turning off the lights and lighting the candle within the lanterns. The children all exclaimed ‘wow!’, ‘Kawaii!’, when they saw the lanterns they would be making, expressing their excitement but also warming the hearts of all the adults at the event at the same time with their cuteness. The kids facial expressions turned serious and focused once they…