～Let’s Go Search for Darkness～
2023.09.26 Shinichi Sakaguchi ＋ Tomoya Furukawa＋Ryuji Hatta
＋ Ryuma Shiota＋Noriko Higashi
This time, our night walk survey was themed “Exploring the Darkness of the City,” taking us through the green paths of Setagaya in Tokyo and visiting shrines in Kyoto where darkness lingers.
Typically, our walks focus on the lights of the city, but this time we decided to take a different approach with the theme “Let’s Search for the Darkness of Tokyo”. While parks, shrines, and cemeteries are places with inherent darkness, we thought there wasn’t much room for discussion. Instead, we focused on Setagaya’s green paths, which are commonly used at night for commuting, school, and jogging. Although these paths are very pleasant during the day and popular for strolls, we wanted to see what the nighttime environment is like, so we divided into three groups to explore. (Noriko Higashi)
■ Group 1: Ikejiri-Ohashi to Sangenjaya
The first group walked along the Meguro River Greenway and the Karasuyama River Greenway from Ikejiri-Ohashi to Sangenjaya, which are connected by a single greenway, and we were able to feel the various expressions of the greenways from different places.
The atmosphere, brightness, and sense of safety when walking at night seem to vary greatly depending on the surrounding environment. The atmosphere of the tall streetlights and security lights was greatly influenced by the surrounding trees. I got the impression that places with thick trees and narrow greenways were dark, while places with low trees and light leaking in from the surrounding houses were bright enough to give a sense of security.
I know it is difficult to make such a greenway uniform, but it would give a slightly different impression if at least the color temperature and height of the street lights could be standardized.
I also thought that tall trees need to be maintained in such a way that they do not cover the street lights. (Shinichi Sakaguchi)
■ Group 2: Wakabayashi to Sangenjaya
Group 2 moved to Wakabayashi Station on the Tokyu Setagaya Line and then walked the streets looking for darkness in residential areas, centered around the “Karasuyama River Greenway” from Kannana-dori to the Chazawa-dori area.
When we reached the Karasuyama River Greenway at the site of Wakabayashi Bridge along Kannana-dori Avenue, we were confronted with streetlights that emitted a glaring light that one of the group members described as an “explosion of light”. The lights, with their LED modules in full view and uncontrolled light distribution, continued to the Miyashita Bridge site on the greenway, which had a clear view, and emitted unpleasant glare. Near the Wakabayashi Bridge ruins, the road surface illumination continued to be bright and whitish with an illuminance of 50 lx and a color temperature of 4700K.
After passing the Inari Bridge ruins, we found that the existing streetlights had been
replaced with four-sided LED lamps instead of mercury lamps, without modifying the light fixtures. Because of the shallow type and lack of glare protection, the high luminosity of the lamps was very bright and caused us a lot of stress, leaving us with no time to enjoy the greenway at night.
Near the Nishiyama Bridge site, where the greenway curves, the street lights were set up facing the school road parallel to the greenway, so the amount of light to the greenway on the other side was low, and in addition, it was partially blocked by tree leaves, creating a moderate darkness.
A street person was lying on a dimly lit bench, which must be a safe and secure light hero for him. However, on the greenway less than 10 m away from there, there was a pitch-dark spot where no light reached at all. It was a very dangerous light environment where crime might occur. There is an urgent need to install light distribution-controlled bollard lighting, etc. In the residential areas along the greenway, there were many dark spots that became light villains. The sidewalks were so dark that one could not even feel the presence of people coming toward them, and even men commented that it was frightening. The road surface illumination level was 0.2 lx.
Crossing Chazawa-dori and looking at the greenway ahead from the ruins of Hachiman-bashi bridge, the same shallow street lights were not dazzling and created a pleasant atmosphere, leading us deeper into the city. The overgrown plantings were natural louvers, cutting off unwanted light and forming darkness, and finally we met the hero of the light.
In order for users to enjoy a night walk along the Karasuyama River Greenway with peace of mind, a cozy dark design with reduced glare and no dark spots is strongly required. (Tomoya Furukawa)
■Group 3: Sangenjaya Station to Jakuzuregawa Greenway
Group 3 started from Sangenjaya Station and walked a short distance from Setagaya-dori to the first greenway, then passed under the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway Route 3, walked along a second greenway with a different atmosphere, and finally returned to Sangenjaya Station passing temples, housing complexes, and restaurants. The first greenway was a long-established greenway with mercury lamps installed, but everyone felt the atmosphere was gloomy, saying “Glare is too noticeable”, “Color rendering is poor, so greens don’t look good” and “It’s too white and unpleasant”. And they were cited as villains.
The second greenway was relatively new, and although it may have looked relatively good because the lighting we saw in the first greenway was too bad, it became a hero for its “louvers to prevent glare on the building side”, “LEDs with good color rendering,” “bulb color with good atmosphere,” and “looks good with appropriate shading”. Other than that, we were able to find heroes in the lighting of residences and stores. The light as a surface of moderate luminance seemed to create a certain sense of brightness in the night streets. On streets that are not as bright as those in front of train stations, buildings that give a sense of light make people feel relieved. Thinking about the theme of this survey, “darkness,” I felt that it is difficult to find it in the city. I found some dark places that made me feel anxious, but they were not the “darkness” we were looking for. Where can we find the “darkness” that attracts us? (Ryuji Hatta)
This time, in Tokyo we walked along three greenways in Setagaya (Meguro River Greenway, Karasuyama River Greenway, and Jakuzuregawa River Greenway), which are planted with trees blooming with seasonal flowers and streams flowing in places, making them pleasant and enjoyable to walk along. Unfortunately, at night, many of the paths were lit by bright, glaring lights, and there were only few places where one could enjoy the darkness. It was close to the full moon on the day of the night walk survey, and the moon’s glow from the occasional dark spot was still the greatest hero.
It was too dark to take pictures with my iPhoneX, but I was able to take beautiful pictures with my android and iPhon14. I would like to hold another dark photography contest with all the participants to see who can take the best photos. (Noriko Higashi)
Night Walk in Kyoto, Kansai
Kyoto was selected from among the cities in the Kansai region for a night walk survey based on the theme of “darkness”. As indicated by Junichiro Tanizaki’s phrase “In-ei raisan,”(In Praise of Shadows) all Japanese may feel the bewitching yet somehow intimate beauty of the dark. Our route took us from Hanamikoji, to Yasui Konpiragu Shrine, through the grounds of Kenninji Temple, through Miyagawa-cho town, and out to the banks of the Kamo River.
■Yasui Konpira-gu Shrine and Kenninji Temple
The first stop was Yasui Konpira-gu Shrine, famous as a shrine for breaking off relationships.
The flickering lanterns and bonbori (paper lanterns) warmly illuminated the ema (wooden votive picture), which is filled with people’s grudge. Although LEDs were used as the light source, the area was illuminated with warm and soft light. As if lured by the bright light, we passed through the torii gate and found ourselves in the electric light of a hotel district. I feel something extremely ironic about a love hotel next to a shrine of marriage breakup, but this may also be the “darkness” of Gion.
Entering the precincts of Kenninji Temple, in contrast to Yasui Konpira-gu Shrine, there were few lights, dimly illuminating the cobblestone pavement as if to show the location of the sidewalk. The Dharma Hall was not illuminated, but the dimness was rather calming and restful.
■Creating a view with lighting
Light illuminating a stone mound and stone statues in the precincts of Yasui Konpira-gu Shrine. According to Mr. Uomori, who works in the industry of lighting in theatre, light is shone from the side in performing arts, dance, and other stages where the physicality of people needs to be emphasized, and the lighting we saw seemed to emphasize the roundness of the stone mound and the physicality of the stone statues, although we were not sure if this was intentional. In addition, the difference in brightness between the incandescent and LED lights on the left and right sides seemed to coincidentally intensify this.
The other finding was that the light bulbs illuminating the store enhanced the textured look of the plaster finish. It was suggested that a little more consideration of the way the light was shone might enhance the dramatic effect.
Indirect lighting between the walls, which are divided by Kyoto’s microtopography, gives a sense of space to the walking space, which also has a dramatic effect. The repetitive appearance of vertical light along the long earthen wall reinforces the directionality and sequence of the alley space. It would be even better if planned in conjunction with elements such as the surrounding streetlights and utility poles. I thought it could be evaluated as a hero that sublimated the constraints caused by the microtopography into an architectural and urban design.
■Summary
During this night walk, I was able to discover the light that supports the contrasting spatial composition latent in the city of Kyoto, as well as the subtle and delicate light that stimulates the latent sensitivity of the Japanese people, who also find darkness familiar and calming. The light from lanterns and bonbori (paper lanterns) played a role in Kyoto’s slightly deep and beautiful nights, and incandescent lanterns were still in use in Miyagawa-cho town.
It was also a very meaningful meeting, as we were able to make more fresh discoveries by observing the city not only from the perspective of lighting, but also from different specialties such as architectural informatics, architectural design, theatrical lighting, and art, as well as from different generations such as children, students, and working people. （Ryuma Shiota)
