Interviewer:　Takafumi Kubo Mende :  I heard that you practice Ikebana, or Japanese flower arrangement.  What style are you learning?  It’s amazing that you find time when work is so busy. Kubo : I am learning the Sogetsu style of Ikebana.   We work with not only classical flower  types, but also pursue innovative and unique expressions with flowers.  It is very interesting.  I also had a piece displayed at an exhibit. Mende :   I don’t think I got an invitation. Kubo :  Sorry about that.  Working with flowers is very invigorating.  I feel like a student again. Mende :  What do you learn at your lessons? Kubo :  Generally, a  basic flower arrangement is  arranged with three branches and flowers.  The three branches are labeled, Shin, Soe, and Hikae.  Depending on the length of a branch, angle of insertion, how one displays the water, how branches are hung, and other factors, each arrangement looks different.  So even if we all used the same flowers, there would never be two arrangements that are the same.    So even if one is not very good, if they fill the requirements, it is a flower arrangement.   It is very interesting. What do you do at your Shinnai lessons (Japanese  theatrical music  lessons)? Mende : The teacher for our Shinnai lessons is an older gentleman and we basically just mimic what he sing-says.  So we basically try to come as close as we can to what and…

2021.10.27　Shunichi Ikeda + Erina Hosono + Namiko Watanabe About three weeks after the state of emergency in Tokyo was lifted, we conducted our first urban night walk survey since the COVID-19 outbreak, heading to Akasaka. The area between Akasaka and Akasaka-mitsuke features both traditional establishments such as atmospheric ryotei (Japanesestyle restaurants) and neon-lit entertainment districts reminiscent of Kabukicho. At the same time, Akasaka has gained recognition as a tourist destination due to redevelopment centered around Akasaka Sacas. We surveyed the nighttime environment of this area where tradition, business, and nightlife coexist. ■Aerial Nightscape of AkasakaThe central area of Akasaka lies roughly in the middle of the cluster of high-rise buildings. At first glance, the nightscape viewed from above gives a rather subdued impression, due to the lack of prominent building illuminations or large advertising towers. However, upon closer inspection, one can see clusters of commercial lights peeking through the gaps between buildings. While the limited presence of dramatic lighting or decorative illuminations may make it less visually striking, the overall effect is a calm and environmentally friendly nightscape. ■Akasaka Sacas AreaAkasaka Sacas, a multi-use complex directly connected to Akasaka Station, is usually frequented by businesspeople and shoppers. However, likely due to the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of passersby during our survey was surprisingly low, which was unfortunate. The nighttime lighting around the base of the 179-meter-tall Akasaka Biz Tower is uniformly set to a relatively low…

Interviewer: Lin Huangyi (Akira) Akira：Mende-san, today I’d like to talk about the cost of losing dark sky. Perhaps we can continue our chat starting from the elevator as a warm-up to recall the value of starlight. What’s your most memorable experience of a starry night? Since we’re from different generations, I imagine our impressions might differ. Mende：One of my most unforgettable memories was in Annapurna, Nepal, at a mountain campsite. We were staying in tents, and one midnight I stepped outside—the galaxy was so close it felt like I could reach out and touch it. Everything was silent and dark, but the stars were overwhelming. I don’t know why, but tears came to my eyes. Akira：That sounds incredible. Maybe every human being, no matter what era or area they live in, will cry at this scene. It is kind of echo just like deep inside our subconscious. Once you’ve had that kind of moment, it never leaves you.For me, this happened during university in Chongqing. We visited the Jingxin Buddhist Temple (which literally means “Peaceful Mind”) on a mountain. This temple was part of a lighting project designed by BPI.When we got back to the hotel, there was a sudden blackout—the electricity system had broken down, and everything went dark for hours. At that moment, my classmates and I decided to do something crazy. We went back to the temple again, using only our phone flashlights. It was magical: the…

Date of Issue：March 19, 2019・Activity 1 / Sea the Light @ Street of Clans （2019/03/08-03/10）・Activity 2 / Night Walk vol. 63 ：Meguro River Cherry Blossom Illumination（2019/03/25）・Activity 3 / Round Table Discussion vol. 61 （2019/04/17） Sea the Light @ Street of Clans, Bukit Pasoh Road, Singapore Design Week 8th-10th March 2019 | Sherri Goh, Niken Wulandari Sutanto, Quratuaini Bte Jamil, Tang Chia Xing Back Alley connected to Bukit Pasoh Road Singapore Design Week was held on 4th-17th March with major highlights such as Brainstorm Design Forum, International Furniture Fair, Design and Heritage Trails, District Activation and Craft Markets. Street of Clans at Bukit Pasoh was part of the “Empower my Community” initiative that brings people, history and culture together. Majority of the clans in Singapore were set up long that road itself as part of the Straits Settlement that were there to support immigrants new to Singapore, like an extended family.The lighting design concept for this event is inspired by the journey and experience of the people in the clans that travels to the unknown land by sailing through the deep water. “Sea the Light” is a lighting installation of being adrift in the tranquil dark blue of the sea. The relationship between human and nature is bridged by the warm lanterns that lit in the cool surrounding of the night. Introduction to the Gan Clan Located at the small alleyway at Bukit Pasoh Road, Lighting Detectives transformed thespace into an…

In the warm family picture painted by Yasujiro Ozu there are two types of natural light;  glaring, bright sunlight and the incandescent lamp, symbolic of a cozy family.  In the film, daytime scenes always seem very carefully calculated.  Doors and windows are always wide open and abundant light streams into the rooms.  Family life is constructed against this bright external background.   In other words, even indoors the presence of nature outside is sufficiently felt, as if one is outside when they are actually inside.  So, in the film when a outdoor scene directly follows and connects to an indoor scene there is nothing unnatural about it and the screen flows uninterrupted.  Nothing feels so good as when the sliding paper doors, sliding lattice doors, and storm shutters are all completely open in the house.  Fresh air rushes in and moves about freely.  This is characteristic of Japanese lighting culture and unique to old family homes built using a wooden framework construction style. The “Tokyo Story” uses this feeling of openness during the daytime extremely well.  The presence of the outdoors is sensed by bright sunlight or a cloudy sky and these backgrounds and natural light subtlety expose the delicate emotional bonds of the family. After sunset, the second form of natural light emerges in the film.  Compared to the feeling of openness during the day, a single incandescent lamp represents the warm family bonds.   I typically call lamp light the…