2025.06.26 Yumi Honda +Qiaoxi Wang+ Momoe Nomura We observed and recorded the nighttime light environment of the newly developed commercial complex Senkyaku Banrai in the Tokyo Bay Area and its surrounding public spaces (green plaza, station area, and Gururi Park). We conducted a multifaceted analysis, including the placement of lighting fixtures, illuminance, and the impression of the space, to determine how light affects the atmosphere of the facility and the city in the Toyosu area, which is being developed as a tourist hub. The Toyosu area is a point of interest where the latest urban spaces and the lively atmosphere of shitamachi (old downtown) coexist due to redevelopment. We walked through the area around Toyosu Market Station, the green plaza, and Gururi Park, observing how light design impacts the impression, comfort, and safety of the town. ■Senkyaku Banrai Senkyaku Banrai is a commercial facility that opened in 2024 next to the Toyosu Market. It’s a spot where both tourists and local residents can enjoy the array of restaurants and souvenir shops. Through architecture and lighting design incorporating traditional Japanese motifs, it exudes a uniquely Japanese warmth and vitality, even within the contemporary urban nightscape. The lighting plan inside the facility is unified, as befitting a new commercial complex, and was designed with both aesthetic appeal and functionality in mind. The main path lighting uses warm, incandescent colors, creating a nostalgic atmosphere reminiscent of a Showa-era shopping street. This fosters a…

2022.11.4-5 Sachiko Segawa Surprisingly, this survey of the Sawara district marks the first time the Lighting Detectives have conducted an investigation within Chiba Prefecture. The team focused on an area designated both as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings and as a Landscape Formation District. Here, the townscape of merchant houses, which flourished from the Edo period thanks to river transport on the Tone River, still remains. Located about 70 km from Tokyo Station and slightly inland from the Tone River, the Sawara district of Katori City once thrived as a merchant town, to the point it was said to rival Edo itself. However, the town declined during Japan’s period of rapid economic growth. Following a townscape survey in 1974, the value of its historic scenery was reappraised. Today, leveraging its convenient location—just two hours from Tokyo and one hour by train from Narita Airport—the area is being redeveloped as a tourist destination. For this survey, the team limited their scope to the townscape along the Ono River and conducted a nightscape survey. ■Uniquely Designed Lighting Fixtures From JR Narita Line Sawara Station, as we walked toward the Ono River, we were greeted by a bollard topped with a monkey. “Why a monkey…?” we wondered, but as we continued upstream along the river, we encountered bollards adorned with all sorts of figures: rabbits, carp, children, frogs, Ebisu, and more—each one different, with no two alike. These uniquely…

Modern Kagurazaka still conveys the atmosphere of its once flourishing Edo Era streets. Old Japanese restaurants and bars line the narrow alleyways and with softly glowing lantern light and welcome signs to complete the scene, one forgets that this is Shinjuku Ward in the middle of Tokyo. In this historical neighborhood warm lantern light is all but a natural presence. Compared to the white lights of Ikebukuro and Shinjuku glowing brightly in the distance, Kagurazaka is submerged in darkness. Buildings in Kagurazaka are lower and lower color-temperature light also peaks out from the many alleyways. Kagurazaka Street, running down the center of this neighborhood, is the only really bright spot, except for the lights reflecting off the canal along Sotobori Street. A prized neighborhood for shopping and entertainment during the Edo period, the historical Kagurazaka Shopping Street is a 700 meter long living time slip. New and old shops are jumbled together along the street with specially designed, lantern-like street lights placed at intervals along the edge of the sidewalk. From Kaguraza`s main street several narrow alleyways lead to the interior of the neighborhood where the scale of lighting is downsized to human proportions. Outside restaurants on Hyogo Yokocyo, one of the more famous back streets, softly glowing lanterns light the entrance and also reflect of the cobbled street and traditional-style fence for a very old Japanese atmosphere.

Tokyo Survey: Tsukuda / Tsukishima 2019.11.18　　Kyoko Takubo+Yuichi Anzai+Namiko Watanabe An overview of Tsukishima. In contrast to the bright large city buildings, the small alleys and storefronts don’t leak much light Tsukuda is an fisherman island made in Edo-period. Tsukishima was landfilled in Meiji era and now there are still many row houses and small alleys. While the port area of Tokyo is going through mass redevelopment, we investigated the lighting environment of this area filled with intermingling old town houses and large city buildings. Tsukuda Tsukuda 1Chome Mainstreet. Children playing outside the old candy store Tsukuda 1 Chome Mainstreet is mainly lit with mercury lamps Tsukuda Machikado Museum. Its lit with LED3000K with about 134lx. Our investigation started by taking an overview photo from a tall building from the other side of the river. With the hustle and bustle bright lights from the Central area’s cityscape, there was one part that was dark- that is our target of this investigation, Tsukuda・Tsukishima. The dark patch from this area is even more pronounced as it is surrounded by the bright city lights all around.   As we get back on the ground, we headed towards Tsukuda 1 chome (Old Tsukuda Island) Mainstreet. On our way we saw the mercury lamp streetlights (4500K) emitting some green tinted white light. The average brightness was around 11lx. In the day you could still see a nostalgic scene with children playing outside the old candy store…

Shiodome Sio-Site was a joint public and private sector redevelopment project completed in 2006. In nearby Shinbashi, eateries and bars built under and into the brick structure of the elevated railway tracks during the Meiji era have become a famous cityscape of this area. We set out to discover what kind of lighting environment exists in this conflicting neighborhood of Tokyo. Red lanterns, single light bulbs hanging under the eaves, colorful luminous signage…All the lighting is warm and inviting. The lighting environment along the streets of Shinbashi is wide and varied, but somehow closes the distance between strangers. Lighting for an elevated pedestrian deck connecting high-rise buildings in the area. The warm colored lighting creates a comfortable atmosphere for a nighttime stroll. The Shiodome high-rise buildings are not showy, and along with the interior office lighting, only a few have facade lighting on the building crowns.