The World Lighting Journey is a photo library of nightscapes and lighting environments from cities worldwide. Lighting Detectives hopes this database will be a catalyst for future discussion on urban lightscapes and local lighting culture. Lighting Detectives encourages all web viewers to send nightscape from your hometown to add to our ever-expanding photo library.

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Steet of Motomachi

Category: Street
Photo by: SHOMEI TANTEIDAN
©All Rights Reserved
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GLOBAL RESEARCH

City Night Survey: Kitakyushu

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2025.01.08-01.11 Misuzu Nakamura + Sachiko Segawa Kitakyushu City was finally ranked No.1 in the latest “New Three Great Nightscapes of Japan” by the Night View Tourism Convention Bureau. The city has actively utilized its local assets—such as the industrial landscapes developed from the Yahata Steel Works, historic streetscapes, and a terrain of hills and bays—to enhance its nightscape. Surprisingly, this city had not yet been surveyed by the Lighting Detectives, so we set out to rediscover its unique allure. ■Learning What Makes a Compelling Nightscape Before beginning our survey, we visited Ms. Miki Matsushita, a lighting designer who has long been involved in Kitakyushu city’s nightscape—from formulating the nightscape guidelines for the Kokura city center to planning lighting for various facilities both in and outside the city. We visited her lighting design office in Fukuoka City, which felt as comfortable and refined as an art museum. There, we had the opportunity to hear a wide range of storie—from the time she spent developing the guidelines to her mindset as a lighting designer. One thing that left a lasting impression was her comment that guidelines shouldn’t become manuals, but rather serve as guidebooks. It became clear that her approach, rooted in deep empathy for the local community, allowed her to foster unique charm through the application of the guidelines in ways that reflect the distinct character of each area. (Misuzu Nakamura) ■Kokura Station Area: The Gateway to Kitakyushu and a Hub…

City Night Survey – Taipei & Taichung, Taiwan

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City Night Survey – Taipei & Taichung, Taiwan 2023.10.30 – 11.04　Genki Watanabe＋Hikaru Kimura Office of the Governor-General Taiwan is geographically close to Japan and has deep historical ties. It is famous for its skyscrapers such as Taipei 101 and, more recently, for buildings designed by Japanese architects. Renovations of old buildings are also being actively undertaken. We investigated how the mixture of old and new influences the light and human activity in the cities of Taipei and Taichung. Taipei and Taichung The capital of Taiwan, “Taipei” is characterized by world-class skyscrapers such as Taipei 101 and streetscapes that retain historical architecture. In addition to new buildings, there are also many renovations of existing buildings, creating a city with a mixture of old and new architecture. Taichung has become the second largest city in Taiwan in terms of population in 2017 as a result of government-led urban development efforts in recent years to disperse the over concentration of the metropolis in Taipei.We investigated how Taichung, planned as a compact city, affects the city’s light and human activity, and how it differs from Taipei’s light. The nightscape of Old City (west side) from Taipei 101 Taipei’s Urban Area Taipei’s urban area can be roughly divided into two areas. The west side of the city is the Old City, where historical buildings still remain. Many important political centers are still located on the west side, and historical buildings are still used as administrative…

MOSCOW 2008, Russia

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During the day short sleeves are fine, but even the Russian summer nights are cool with a little bit of white breathe after the sun goes down. Many main roads run through the middle of Moscow with classic Stalin style architecture lining the sides of the streets. The detailed, but dynamic lighting is very becoming for this architecture. On the other hand, lighting for roadways and plazas is rougher and not as artistically finished. The Red Square has been the stage for numerous historical events. The entire plaza is beautiful paved in stone, but at night huge floodlights shine huge amounts of light on the plaza and the glare is unbelievable. This beautiful, palace-like subway station platform is not uncommon in Moscow. We didn’t see one naked fluorescent light, very common in Japan, but each platform space was softly lit with indirect lighting. In the suburbs of Moscow along the river is the new “Moscow City,” a large multi-complex project still under construction. The developed area is a whopping 10,000 sqkm! What kind of lighting will this new town have? We’ll have to wait until its finished in 2020.

City Night Survey : Iwakuni ＆Miyajima, Japan

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2023.08.02 – 2023.08.04　Yumi Honda＋Sachiko Segawa The theme of this survey is “lighting on boats since ancient times”. Cormorant fishing on the Nishiki River in Iwakuni has been practiced for about 400 years. The Kangensai Festival at Miyajima Island has been held since the Heian period (794-1192). We investigated the relationship between water, light, and people in these two different areas. ■Iwakuni　The Light of Cormorant Fishing, an Ancient Fishing MethodCormorant fishing has been practiced on the Nishiki River in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, for about 400 years. The cormorant fishing is still enjoyed today by taking a pleasure boat ride from the foot of Kintai-kyo Bridge, one of the three most famous bridges in Japan. The day we visited was a weekday in mid-summer, and the daytime crowds were sparse, but in the evening, people began to gather along from somewhere the riverbank and board the cormorant fishing boats. In western Japan in summer, it is still light even at 18:00. Looking at the sightseeing boats from the bridge, I could see people enjoying a party on the boats with lanterns hanging down. As it gradually got darker and the lights of Kintai-kyo Bridge and lanterns along the river were lit up, we slowly waited for the cormorant fishing time to start. By the time the pleasure boat landed for a break, the sun had completely set and Iwakuni-jo Castle at the top of the mountain was lit up. Finally, it…

Seto Inland Sea of Japan

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The archipelago, pristine nature, and human footprint all combine to create the highly valued landscape of the Seto Inland Sea. Depending on the season and time of day the inlet and small islands have a store of rich expressions from dusk to dawn. The lights of the villages and ships come on in the distance and fade with the morning light. Different from a larger city, we surveyed the charm of this aesthetic landscape and Inlet Sea. The survey course starts on the island of Shikoku in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture along the Shimanami Kaido Expressway. The 60-kilometer long highway skips through the islands, connected by 9 bridges and ends in Onomichi City, Hiroshima. If you look hard, from a mountain top lookout, the entire route is visible. By car and on foot, we aimed to discover the lighting identity of this area, including cities drowning in light and smaller villages that dot the sides of the highway. From the observation deck on top of Chikamiyama near, Imabari City, The Kurushima Channel Bridge is visible. A panoramic view from Senkoji Park.