A city for the young and young at heart, Shibuya. The area is composed of a mess of streets all with a different atmosphere, including a few main streets connected by narrower alleyways. Each street has developed its own personality and role, including lighting conditions to create the Shibuya night. From the scramble intersection in front of Shibuya Station, 3 distinctive roads, Dogenzaka, Center Gai, and Koen Dori radiate. After dusk, the lights come on and the personality of each street is even more clearly defined. As the title implies, Center Gai is the center of Shibuya geographically and caters to the young as the center for shopping and entertainment. This street is full of light. Each shop seems to be competing for the brightest facade with infinite amounts of luminous signage and advertising, creating a 3-dimensional playground. Dogenzaka is a festive street with a steady flow of pedestrians, but turn down one of the narrow side streets and the atmosphere changes immensely. The facades of many love hotels packed into the area are saturated with color creating a seedy blend of light and young couples prowling the Maruyama-cho area.

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.

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.

2023.01.26-01.29　Masafumi Yamamoto + Yuki Ito　 Okinawa is a place where diverse cultures and histories are intertwined. In Okinawa, each region has its own unique streetscape, and this is due to the fact that each region has a completely different historical background. The following is a simplified explanation of the historical background of each area. The Naha area was severely damaged in the war and was rebuilt; the Koza area was influenced by the U.S. military base and retains a strong American culture; and the Bise and Imadomari areas retain the traditional streets of the Ryukyu Islands. By comparing the light environment of each area, this survey sought to determine what kind of lifestyle culture and light features each area has, and what kind of light is unique to Okinawa. ■Sakae-machi MarketSakae-machi Market, located in Naha City, is a shopping street that was established during the postwar reconstruction period and has remained almost unchanged since then. Today, the market is a lively place where locals gather during the daytime, but at night it transforms into a more local haunt, drinking district that is quite different from the impression it gives during the daytime. The only light at night is from the taverns and the faint fluorescent lights in the upper part of the shopping street. (Floor illumination: approx. 20 lx) The illuminance alone gives the impression of dimness, but the actual atmosphere was not as dark as the impression given by…

The Television Broadcasting Tower looks down on the orange sodium lamps overflowing from the grid patterned streets of Sapporo. While on assignment in December we were able to view the multi-colored White Illumination set up along Ohdori Park and Sappore Eki Mae Street. Looking towards Ohdori Promenade from the JR Tower. Sapporo is a beautiful city at twilight with orange light from the streets to set off the blue-tinted snow-topped roofs. The tree-lined street, Sapporo Ekimae Avenue is a sight to see with its unique style of looping lights over tree branches. Visitors with cameras and mobile phones converge on the decorated Ohdori Promenade. Sapporo Television Tower, similar to Tokyo Tower and Nagoya Tower, and all designed by the same architect, is also illuminated with the same type of sodium lamp.