Spring of 2007 in the city-state of Hong Kong; a million dollar nightscape along the waterfront, rows of neon signs create the streetscape, and everywhere you look construction sites for new skyscrapers. The transformation of the city is laid out before your eyes, past present, and the future urban landscape of this small, but powerful city. Along the Hong Kong waterfront a nightly narrated light show thrills tourists with artistic images. Surprisingly, the local government and business community coordinate this show. Streets in the Kowloon District are lined with storefronts that still have an old-fashioned flavor. While walking down these streets I realized that with surrounding buildings and lights of the modern city are out of sight. Is this old street deliberately shielding the buildings to preserve this old district? If so, we have stumbled upon a rare model for urban lighting. Macao, a city in the middle of a construction boom and developer’s dream. Like Hong Kong, large-scale complexes that have taken over entire city blocks are central to the urban layout. Especially on Taipa Island, construction sites are numerous and building not only expand up, but also out. Buildings after building line the streets.

5 March 2007 This month in cooperation with Yamagiwa Corp., we rented out the Space Studio in the Yamagiwa Livina Showroom in the Akihabara District of Tokyo. It is a big and spacious studio with designer furniture and light fixtures on display. by: yukiko saito Reported News, Surveys, and Events Toyosu City Walk…Ken Okamoto Shinjuku Urban Lighting Survey…Motoyo Ogawa Sendai City Lighting Survey…Daisuke Yano Transnational Tanteidan Forum 2006y…Saiko Tanuma URA Exhibition…Mikine Yamamoto Ginza Streetlight Competition…Saiko Tanuma Toyosu City Walk Lighting Detective Ken Okamoto reported on the walk around the Toyosu area on February 16th. Ken presented a quality analysis on the overall lay of the area, the lighting guidelines of the city, and a critic of what he observed on the walk. During the walk, teams broke up to observe lighting in the following areas: Lalaport shopping area, streets, residential, Shibaura Technical University, office buildings, and the waterfront. All teams joined in a discussion, trading observations, critics, and suggestions. Shinjuku Urban Lighting Survey Lighting Detective member Motoyo Ohgawa reported next on an urban lighting survey of Shinjuku. The team ventured to the Tokyo district on November 17th to survey the facade along Yasukuni Blvd., the continually transforming Shinjuku Station perimeter, and from a perch onto of a skyscraper, a birds-eye-view of the city. The team started early in the morning and worked through the night to the next morning to be able to see the changes in one continuous day….

Bangkok, a city in a swirl of on-going change. In our previous survey of Tokyo’s Kanda River, we discover that the backs of buildings face the river creating and area of dark contrast in the middle of the city. But here along the Chaopraya River the opposite is true with the front facades lining the waterfront. Open-air restaurants and bars occupy the rooftops, as the spectacle of the city spreads out below. The Millennium Hilton, Bangkok, opened in May of 2006, is the first major hotel brand to open a hotel in the country in 20 years. The hotel boasts 543 riverfront rooms. With a UFO-like disk on top of the building, the cool-modern design stands tall among the neighboring structures. Along the riverfront, a private pier is provided for guests and dinners at the restaurant and bar. As river taxis come and go, the warm spots of light along the river reflect and shimmer on the water surface. Scirocco, one of many open-air restaurants, is approximately the same height as the special observation room at Tokyo Tower, 246 meters above ground, but without the glass barrier!. Without a glass window the lights of the city below seems so much more clear and real!! At the next table sat an older coupe that came to watch the sunset. The woman was surprised when presented with a big bouquet of flowers, undoubtedly a romantic gesture from her husband. A single candle…

In Bangkok, the development of giant commercial facilities continues, as modern times blend with Buddhism to create the nightscape. The light from architecture, high-class restaurants, and shopping centers of these civilized, modern times are built right along side the fluorescent lights of roadside stands and vendors. Wat Arun, The Temple of the Dawn, illuminated; above all, gold is the symbol of culture and power in Thailand. Wat Arun from the opposite shore of the Chao Phraya River. The sunset also helps to convey the feeling of a country for the gods. Florescent lights shine on the street vendor`s restaurant signs, but incandescent lamps are used in the showcases.

16 February 2007 As new condominiums keep popping up everywhere, the new area of focus is the Toyosu District. Large-scale commercial facilities and a university campus also complete this “model” for new urban planning. As the cold winds of February blew, we ventured out to see what all the talk was about. by: momoko muraoka Street Lighting As we began walk from Toyosu Station, we made a conscious effort to focus on street lighting, lighting that is experienced everyday, but largely overlooked. The height and design of the lightpoles, distance between, lamp wattage, and other statistics were digested and an idea of the lighting plan for this area was beginning to form. As we walked along, Chief Mende commented on problems such as glare, which caused members to scribble furiously in their notebooks. At 5:15 pm the street lights came on and we could further see that color temperatures were different according to area, which gave us all something to ponder since this is not a normal planning scheme. Condominiums, Offices, & Shibaura Institute of Technology Because of the ongoing redevelopment in the Toyosu area there is quite a bit of open space awaiting construction and gives a clear view of the high-rise offices and condominiums in the area. Many of the buildings under construction only have a minimal amount of lights on at night. All of the extra space and no glaring lights makes of a big wide-open night…

Date: November 23rd, 2006 Program: City Tour, Workshop, Exhibition, Symposium Venue: URA Center Transnational Tanteidan Forum 2006 in Singapore In 2002, the Transnational Tanteidan Forum started in Tokyo, moved to Europe and the US, and, now in its fifth year, the forum was held in the tropical island-city of Singapore. Once again chapter members gathered for the yearly event to get reacquainted and share lighting experiences. Façade Lighting The theme this year was façade lighting. The façade, said to be the face of architecture, is sensitive to light at night. Illuminations can add to a building’s charm and highlight it’s features, but can also leave a damaging expression. Architecture, the face of a city, creates a nightscape unique to each city and area. How façade lighting affects the nightscape of a city was the topic of this year’s forum. The night started with our top presenter, Singapore member, Ms. Toh Yah Li. Yah Li introduced the different areas of Singapore, focusing on the CBD district and the skyscrapers along the waterfront. The reflection of this group of skyscrapers in the bay is distinctive of the Singapore nightscape, but the light permeating from the windows of high-rise public housing is also a classic view of Singapore. Next on the program were Hamburg lighting designers, Mr. Christof Fielstette and Ms. Ulrike Brandi. The pair presented on the illumination of the city hall and other historical buildings with classic stone facades, but as…

From up above Tokyo looks like an overturn jewelry box, the night streets glitter with lights and it a fairly beautiful sight. Once back on ground, the glitter has turned harsh. It is an economically advanced nightscape, an efficient nightscape with needless light and light pollution. An aerial view of Tokyo at night. The dark area in the center of Tokyo, the Emperor`s Palace, is surrounded by clusters of lights that resemble precious stones. From this view it is unclear where Tokyo begins or ends. The Tokyo nightscape is illuminated in bright white light. Mercury lamps and florescent lights in the background of Tokyo Tower control the nightscape of this city. Old-fashioned houseboats gather in the foreground of the Odaiba District and the Rainbow Bridge.

Candle Night @ Omotesando, scheduled for December 21, 2006, has been canceled. It is unfortunate that this annual December event, started in 2003 along Cat Street, will not be held this winter solstice. Instead of holding this event twice a year, once in December and again in June, we have decided to concentrate all of our efforts on the summer solstice, maybe event making it a more festive event than before. The “Turn off the lights and take it slow” campaign competes with Christmas retail and the festive nature of Omotesando during this season. This year Omotesando is also planning a grand, month-long lighting event, Eco Avenue, which will make it even harder to create interest for the Candle Night event. In conjunction with the Community Planning Board for Omotesando the Candle Night event will be held on the summer solstice only. We thank you for your understanding and continued support to make the Omotesando summer event bigger and better than ever. However, the Candle Night event will still be held nationwide on the winter solstice and we encourage all our friends at Candle Night @ Omotesando to take it slow, and enjoy your own private candle light on this night and others. See you again next summer!! Candle Night @ Omotesando Planning Committee Kaoru Mende

17 October 2006 Reported News, Surveys, and Events Moon Watching in Sankei Garden…..Tsutomo Nagatsu,Yusuke Hatori Hiroshima Urban Lighting Survey….Tsutomo Nagatsu,Yuki Ogawa Taipei, Taiwan Lighting Survey…Mikene Yamamoto Mixed in with the houses of this quiet residential neighborhood is the D`s Labo Aoyama of Daiko Electric Company. The salon was held here in this comfortable half-basement conference room, stylishly decorated like an interior designers showroom. Reported by Tsutomo Nagatsu Moon Watching in Sankei Garden Detectives gathered at Yokohama`s Sankei Garden to view the harvest moon as it cast its light over the garden grounds, Japanese architecture, and pond, creating shadows and deep contrasts. On a clear night, the moon can be seen hanging over the pagoda and reflected in the pond. However, Mother Nature had other plans, and a howling storm chased us all inside. Chief Mende lectured on the history of Japanese light and members viewed a slide show of garden pictures taken on a planning trip earlier in the week. The moon shown bright on the screen, as everyone longed to go outside and greet the real man in the moon. Moon trivia also kept the salon audience entertained. Hiroshima Urban Lighting Survey August 5th through the 7th Hiroshima urban lighting survey included fieldwork at Itsukushima Shrine and viewing of the River of Light, softly lit lantern set afloat in the river, full of prayers for peace and as a symbol of remembrance as part of the Atomic Bomb Peace…

06 October 2006 Now that the heat of the summer is over, the Lighting Detectives converged on Sankeien Garden in Yokohama to see the new harvest moon glow over traditional Japanese architecture and garden grounds and experience moonlight. Even though it turned out to be a rainy day, we were still positive that the clouds would disappear as we left for Yokohama. Survey By: Yusuke Hattori Stormy Sankeien Garden After a train and bus ride, 22 members of the Lighting Detectives arrived at Sankeien at 4:00 in the afternoon. Of the 17 architectural structures strategically placed around the garden, 12 are labeled Important Cultural Assets and were moved to the garden grounds from Kyoto, Kamakura, and other places from around Japan. The garden has a long distinguished history and in celebration of its 100th Anniversary, the garden was open to visitors at night. In the middle of our moon watching, the weather took a turn for the worse and chased everyone, but the Lighting Detectives indoors. Soaking wet from the waist down and most umbrellas blown inside out, the excitement of the storm faded and members grew weary as dusk set in and the moon came up. Plan B As Lighting Detective spirits and body temperatures started to dip, we all gathered indoors at the Kakushokaku, formally the residence of local merchants, The Hara Family, and recently renovated and restored to original state for the public’s use. The detectives ate…

It was 8:15 on the morning of August 6, 1945 when the first of two bombs dropped on Hiroshima then Nagasaki. Sixty-one years have passed since this memorable day and every year victims are remembered in a peace memorial ceremony attended by 50,000 people. On this night thousands of lanterns are placed in the Motoyasu River near the Hiroshima Peace Memorial as part of the remembrance and prayer for peace. As the main part of our lighting survey we wanted to see how these lanterns changed the face of city on this one night. We also visited Itsukushima Shinto Shrine and downtown Hiroshima. One of the World Cultural Heritage sites, Itsukushima Shinto Shrine. Unfortunately, the lighting is not the most faltering and lacks punch that could emphasis great architectural detail. However, looking from the bow of a boat past the large shrine gate, the main hall floats elusively in the surrounding darkness. This is the angle for a truly spiritual approach. Hiroshima Peace Memorial, a World Cultural Heritage site and the remains of a symbol of sacrifice and crime committed against humanity. Nearly buried by the surrounding city lights, but this dim gloom cast over the rubble suits its history and expresses it in the present day for all to remember. Full of prayers for peace and a symbol of remembrance, softly lit lanterns were set afloat, creating a new river of light. The lightscape created by the lanterns floating…

7 July 2006 The Lighting Detectives are always on the move and for this salon the party moved to the ERCO TOTO Showroom in Minato Ward, Tokyo. Reported by Motoyo Ogawa Reported News, Surveys, and Events Hakone City Walk…Momoko Muraoka Nihonbashi & Sumidagawa Survey…Chiaki Tanigawa Light+Building 2006…Ken Okamoto & Mr. Nakamura from ERCO TOTO Lightfair International 2006…Chief Kaoru Mende Singapore Lighting Experiment…Chief Kaoru Mende Candle Night Summer Solstice 2006…Saiko Tanuma The night started with the most recent city walk to the hills of Hakone. The hydrangeas were in full bloom and specially illuminated for viewing from the slow ?moving mountain trolley. The little train chugged along as passengers ‘ooh’ed & ‘ah’ed over the colorful flowers and lighting display. Also close to home, a report from a recent survey of Tokyo’s Nihonbashi and Sumidagawa area and the Candle Night Summer Solstice Omotesando-Eco Avenue　Event. From here the discussion went abroad to Germany, Las Vegas, and Singapore. At the end of April, detective members traveled to Germany to attend the Light+Building　2006 in Frankfurt. For a full two days they were inspired, overwhelmed, and surprised by the simple power and beauty of light at the event. Mr. Nakamura from Erco Toto showed pictures of the Erco booth display and the Erco staple, yellow flowers. In comparison, Kaoru Mende presented and relayed information from a May lighting show in Las Vegas. Lastly, a short presentation on a recent lighting experiment at a busy downtown Singapore…

28 June 2006 Survey by: Momoko Muraoka From Shinjuku to Hakone, we left Shinjuku Station one June evening on the Romance Train bound for the illumination of the beautiful hydrangea of the Hakone hills. From the Romance Train we all cramped into the small two-car train that would take us up the mountain and to the hydrangea. The hydrangeas are in full bloom throughout the month of June and color the hillsides of Hakone in various tones of blues and pinks. To keep the fun going the flowers are illuminated and flower viewing continues into the night from the windows of the small train. As the train starts out the lights are dimmed and the passengers enjoy a relaxing ride up the mountain. After arriving at the main viewing point, all the car lights are turned off and the night air is a glow with the hydrangea illumination. The small train moving through the mountain blackness was calming, but sitting in that dark train car and experiencing the lights outside was a surreal experience. At the final destination, Miyanoshita Station, the passengers are allowed off the train to view and take pictures of the flowers and lights. On the way home, various opinions of the illumination were tossed around. “When illuminated from below the light source is visible and too bright for the eye. It might be better from above?” “It was a good idea to create certain condensed areas…

June 22, 2006 Summer Solstice Candle Night @ Omotesando – Eco Avenue The biannual Candle Night event was held again this year on June 21st along Omotesando. This event, started by an environmental NGO, has grown to include over 500 separate candle events held on the summer and winter solstics throughout Japan. The Lighting Detectives originally held their event along Cat Street, but has since moved to Omotesando. This was the third time to hold the candle event along Omotesando. Each event is somewhat trial and error and expanding on what works, but also adding new items to keep the candle-based event interesting. Shop fronts along Omotesando were borrowed for the always impressive candle installations and designated cafes in the vicinity took part in the Candle Cafe Network.. Also not to be forgotten, the Jingumae Elementary School Students　in “Kids on Parade with Recycled Candles,” moving light along Omotesando. All three aspects to the night’s event were available for viewing from 8 o’clock to 10 o’clock. Kids Candle Parade The kid’s parade kicked off the night’s events as the procession started from Jingu Bridge. Candle in hand, the students held on tight to a candle each had crafted over the past week from old wax gathered from used-up candles and given new life in the form of recycled candles. As the candles burned down the kids excitedly chattered about their candles. “Look at mine!!” “Mine’s the prettiest!!” “The melted wax looks…

In the heart of Tokyo, Nihonbashi River lies hidden under a system of highway overpasses and the Sumida River is wide and commanding and it cuts through the city. With a variety of bridges, both rivers assert their own unique presence in the Tokyo cityscape. On our own river tour, we encountered the particular water and lightscapes surrounding the bridges and shores of each river. The newly built Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower next to the famous Nihonbashi Bridge. This is the first skyscraper in the Nihonbashi area and as the sun sets, the facade detail is elegantly illuminated. At the historical Nihonbashi District, a variety of lighting methods are on parade, but the highway overpasses keep most of the river hidden from view. Rumors of reconstructing the highway system underground would help revive the scenery along the Nihonbashi River. The main structure of the Chuo-Ohbashi Bridge is beautifully illuminated. The many bridges along the Sumida River compete with each other for top beauty marks, as each is illuminated in a multitude of colors.

10 April 2006 Reported by Yukiko Saito Reported News, Surveys, and Events Nihonbashi & Sumidagawa Riverwalk…Tsutomo Nagatsu Light Up Ninja: Singapore…Kaoru Mende Kyoto City Lighting Survey…Momoko Muraoka Kobe City Lighting Survey…Tsutomo Nagatsu Christmas Illumination Survey…Musashino Art U. Students Candle Night Winter Solstice 2005…Saiko Tanuma Nihonbashi & Sumidagawa Riverwalk After a little bit of a dry spell, the Lighting Detectives gathered once again for the usual and unusual round table discussion at the Shibuya Headquarters. With so many events to report, the night started off with the most recent city walk, a chartered boat tour up the Nihonbashi and Sumidagawa Rivers. Seeing the city lights from the river is always exciting and a hot discussion of lighting pros and cons kept the river rats entertained. Light Up Ninja, Singapore Chief of the Lighting Detectives, Kaoru Mende, also reported on the first Light Up Ninja event in Singapore. The two-day workshop was held in November of last year at Singapore`s Duxton Plain Park. From the event photographs, participants of all ages were enthusiastic and creative in their lighting designs. Japanese City Lighting Survey The night continued with reports from our series on Japanese cities with lighting surveys from Kyoto and Kobe. Kyoto is always a beautiful city to view, but even the simplest street lights reflecting off the rain drenched streets added a mystical element to the photographs. Situated along the bay, Kobe was compared and contrasted to, twin city, Yokohama, also…

20 March 2006 Redevelopment in Tokyo is at an all time high, but with big construction comes consequence. On this city walk 26 lighting detective set off on a river tour to rediscover Nihonbashi and Sumida Rivers. As more and more light is spreading throughout the city, we set out to rediscover the contrast and shadows of these closed off rivers. Survey by: Teruhiko Kubota An Artificial Darkness Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza….All places that come to mind as hot Tokyo night spots, and all places a glow in a dull brightness. All are crowded, loud, and built-up with as much lighting to match. But on this city walk along Nihonbashi and Suimda Rivers, my impression of Tokyo changed. In contrast to these areas of obnoxious light, the river ways were filled with shadows. They weren’t gloomy, dark shadows, but man-made shadows under bridges, overpasses, and highway junctions. I was pleasantly surprised to see these places left in Tokyo; especially under bridges it was pitch-dark!! Darkness and shadows don’t leave one with a warm-fuzzy impression, but this river trip awoke something in me. We go through each day and night in such brightly lit places that we might be taking dark places for granted that they will always be somewhere. After this experience on the “dark side” the main areas of Tokyo seem extremely bright. As a lighting designer, our job is to create space using light as our tool, I realized…

Kyoto is an ancient city of Japan that was planned based on feng shui, or Chinese divination. Although the streets of Kyoto are a typical gridiron pattern, unique spatial conditions derived from the machiya, or Japanese style townhouses, are found all over the city. All of these spatial features nestled into the city’s framework lead us to lighting environments only found in Kyoto. East of Kyoto, a frequented nightscape viewpoint, Shogunzuka looks out over the city. From this birds-eye view, street lights and other ground level lighting softly illuminate the volume of buildings in Kyoto, appearing as of more a cluster of shadows then light in the night. The Gion area of Kyoto. Here, traditional facades and buildings still exist and reflect the intention of the people to preserve and recreate the architectural and lighting atmosphere of this historical place. Instead of bright lights in this area, light is impressively filtered through cracks, crevices, or bamboo lattice of the buildings to spectacularly fulfill this area’s lighting requirements. Kyoto`s rich waterscape. Light from Pontocyo, along the Kamagawa River, filters out and reflects on the surface of the river, one of the many sophisticated nightlight waterscapes of Kyoto. 　　　　　　　　 KYOTO: A Multitude of Autumn Colors (2010.11) Autumn colors decorate the City of Kyoto every year with special illumination displays during the season. Moss, dew and other delicate natural colors standout during the freshness of daylight, compared to the fascinating illumination of fall…

Date: September 22nd, 2005 Program: City Tour, Symposium Venue: AIA Center for Architecture It was another beautiful autumn day in New York City for the 4th Annual Transnational Tanteidan Forum. It all started 4 years again in 2001 with the first forum held in Tokyo. The network of Transnational Lighting Detectives has since grown throughout the world and once a year the core members gather to stage, what has become, the annual TN forum. Presently, the core members consist of 11 members from 6 different countries. This year’s forum was presented by the New York Chapter and held at the Manhattan AIA Center for Architecture. Main Street Lighting This focus this year was again on public space, with the main theme: Main Street Lighting, a continuation from last year’s theme of Daily Transportation Facilities. Main Streets are a feature of most cities and the purpose of these surveys was to see how each core member’s city was illuminated. 200 plus architects, lighting professionals, and others gathered and passionately listened to the following 6 presentations. The first presentation from Jason Neches, New York Chapter, featured Manhattan’s 5th Avenue, Madison Avenue, and Times Square. The valley-like form of these streets from being enclosed by tall skyscrapers is the most recognizable characteristic, but light from signage and window displays on the lower portion of the buildings creates most of the scenery along the streets. Aleksandra Stratimirovic, from the Stockholm Chapter, repeatedly used beautiful…

22 December 2005 It was a chilly winter night for the December 22, 2005 Candle Night event. Across the street from the new Otomesando Hills construction site in the final months of opening-day preparations, soft, warm light danced along the street at this festive, bi-annual event. Lantern Light This winter was the fifth time for the Lighting Detectives to be involved with Candle Night, a countrywide event. Since last summer, the local event has moved from Cat Street, a small side street connecting Harajuku and Shibuya, to the more visible stage of Omotesando. The catch-slogan for this event, “Turn off the lights and take it slow.” is a reflection of a movement to rethink our positions on the environment, energy conservation, and the modern lifestyle. The local Omotesando venue is a festive stage with individually designed lanterns taking center stage, as they are displayed and carried by volunteers up and down the street. Shopping-bag lanterns, zelkova tree motif lanterns, umbrella-shaped lanterns with reflecting light, and even necklace-inspired lanterns…all the hard work of local university students. At 8pm a special promotion video on the huge, Jingumae Intersection digital display board kicked off the evening and grabbed the attention of those unfamiliar with the event. Zelkova Tree Light In front of the Oriental Bazaar, glowing, zelkova tree motif lanterns were lined up at the entrance to represent the rows of flourishing trees along Omotesando. Votive candles were placed on the bars of…