

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…
Shimokitazawa is a neighborhood of small shopping streets and alleyways, projecting a strange, but comfortable atmosphere, as people crowd the backstreets until late in the night. However, plans to replace this quaint neighborhood with arterial roads and high-rises are underway. The detectives took what maybe a last chance to survey this area before it is “defaced.” The top half and rooftops of most buildings do not have any luminous signage. As a result, a bird’s eye view of this neighborhood is actually fairly dark. The station front plaza is filled with people listening to music from sidewalk acts or looking at street art. The crowds of people naturally overflow into a nearby street. If an arterial road is planned for this area, this atmosphere will be lost forever. Two streets back-to-back, but built to two different scales and with two different demeanors. On the left is Shimokitazawa`s main south entrance shopping street. With many interior decor shops, the lighting is bright and color temperature is high. One street inside and the atmosphere and lighting are more relaxed. Low color temperature, incandescent lamps from restaurants, cafes, and bars are the main source of light.
2023.01.20-01.22 Yuichi Anzai+ Chuanyi Liu ■Kozushima Village Kozushima is located about 180 kilometers south of central Tokyo with a population of about 1,800. The terrain is complex, with almost no flat land. The village is located in the center of the island at the foot of Mt. Tenjo. The impetus for the starry sky protection activities on Kozushima came from a comment made during a student internship program by the Tourism Foundation in 2016, that the night sky was as beautiful as a planetarium. The starry sky, a common sight on the island, has become a tourism resource. An island-wide effort to protect the sky began. Specific efforts include replacing streetlights and security lights with fixtures with 0% upward luminous flux and 2,700K color temperature, holding explanatory meetings for residents and regular workshops with experts to gain their understanding and cooperation in light pollution and starry sky protection activities, training islanders as guides, and holding star gazing events to protect the night sky from light pollution and communicate the appeal of the starry sky both on and off the island. The island is also working to protect the night sky from light pollution and convey the charm of the starry sky to the public. The “Light Pollution Prevention Ordinance to Protect the Beautiful Starry Sky of Kozushima Village,” which specifies the responsibilities of residents and businesses to prevent light pollution, will be enacted in 2019, and rules are being developed to…
Kichijoji is an area of Tokyo where a variety of elements are compressed together to create this unique neighborhood. However, even though it seems to be a mixture of “stuff” the area is well planned and organized. Public and private organizations have aggressively worked together in city planning and we surveyed the area to discover what kind of lighting environment or rules they have advised. Starting on the north side of the station, a commercial area, we then moved to the south side of the station and Inogashira Park and the alleyways that connect the park and station. North Side of the Station The lighting along the covered arcade shopping streets, Sun Road and Diamond Street, are LEDs, creating a modern atmosphere, but down some of the narrower alleyways, like Harmonic Alley, the lighting is retro for an exciting nightly stroll. Park Street The main street from the station to Inogashira Park is a narrow 3-meter wide street lined with small cafes, bars, and recycled clothing and nick-nack shops. Restaurant and shop lighting is a warm 3000k for a comfortable atmosphere, but most street lighting spills out from the entrance to these restaurants and shops. Once they are closed for the night the street is very dark. Inogashira Park Equip with solor panels, tall metal halide streetlights record 331lx inside the park. However, the average lux level inside the park is about 30lx. The streetlights are too bright, and ruin…
The Diversity of Condominium Lighting in the Tokyo Area Condominiums play a leading role in housing for the Tokyo Area. As the city grew, busy shopping, business, and entertainment districts are supported by the residences, which live in densely populated residential areas. As the population density increased so did the proportion of condominiums for housing. According to reality statistics, condominiums account for 70% of the housing within the 23 wards of Tokyo. For this survey we stepped away from the bustle of the big city and investigated 3 relatively large, densely populated condominium complexes. The three areas all have a different history and commuting distances from the center of Tokyo. What can we discover about the lighting environment of these three totally different condominiums and the surrounding residential area? Toyosu Once an industrial area built on reclaimed land, housing redevelopment started in 2003 and the first of several residential blocks was completed in 2006. Toyosu is a “new city”, built from scratch and popular with younger families and couples. The number of condominiums is astounding, but the development is not just large, but a luxurious residential area as well. Color temperature viewed from the condominium windows: Orange: 80% White: 16% Bluish: 4% The tower condominiums are immediately visible upon leaving the station. Relatively close to the center of Tokyo, these tower condominiums were built during a boom in condominium real estate. Each tower has a luxurious entrance lobby and…

