■Reported News, Surveys, and Events
Toyosu City Walk…Ken Okamoto
Shinjuku Urban Lighting Survey…Motoyo Ogawa
Sendai City Lighting Survey…Daisuke Yano
Transnational Tanteidan Forum 2006y…Saiko Tanuma
URA Exhibition…Mikine Yamamoto
Ginza Streetlight Competition…Saiko Tanuma

■ Toyosu City Walk
Lighting Detective Ken Okamoto reported on the walk around the Toyosu area on February 16th. Ken presented a quality analysis on the overall lay of the area, the lighting guidelines of the city, and a critic of what he observed on the walk. During the walk, teams broke up to observe lighting in the following areas: Lalaport shopping area, streets, residential, Shibaura Technical University, office buildings, and the waterfront. All teams joined in a discussion, trading observations, critics, and suggestions.

■Street Lighting
As we began walk from Toyosu Station, we made a conscious effort to focus on street lighting, lighting that is experienced everyday, but largely overlooked. The height and design of the lightpoles, distance between, lamp wattage, and other statistics were digested and an idea of the lighting plan for this area was beginning to form. As we walked along, Chief Mende commented on problems such as glare, which caused members to scribble furiously in their notebooks. At 5:15 pm the street lights came on and we could further see that color temperatures were different according to area, which gave us all something to ponder since this is not a normal planning scheme.

■Condominiums, Offices, & Shibaura Institute of Technology
Because of the ongoing redevelopment in the Toyosu area there is quite a bit of open space awaiting construction and gives a clear view of the high-rise offices and condominiums in the area. Many of the buildings under construction only have a minimal amount of lights on at night. All of the extra space and no glaring lights makes of a big wide-open night sky.

Next we moved on to the new Shibaura Institute of Technology campus that opened in 2005. We viewed the campus and surrounding area from the top floor of the Student Union Building.

Toyosu is in the midst of becoming the newest hotspot with various facilities all under construction. Until then the area seems a little bit desolate and without a comfortable lived-in feel, but the elaborateness of the Toyosu urban planning with so many conveniences in such a compact area will creates many exciting future possibilities. Many years down the road after the construction is finished, I hope we can say the same thing about the lighting, a new model for urban light planning..

■Bay Area
Beyond the seaside park behind the Lala Port Shopping Center the entire Toyosu area is spread along the water banks. From the left stands the Gas Science Center with the Yurikamome Monorail in the background. After dusk the Gas Science Center is lit internally creating a super volume and appearance, but also with subtle vertical lighting. The lit cars of the elevated monorail speeding through the background of this nightscape was a fresh scene that will probably be hidden in the future as foreground construction along the waterfront continues.

The Harumi Bridge crosses the river directly in front of us with the Rainbow Bridge visible in the background. Harumi Bridge is not illuminated, but could be a spectacular eye catch, something that this waterscape is serious lacking. Although there are luminous objects in the park, the total amount of light compared to the volume of space in the park is not in balance and the park feels unfinished.

This seaside park is a great location to view the Sumida River fireworks and a shame that that might be the only use for it. Hopefully the residence can pull something together in the future to liven up this great seaside area.





01 August 2007
Tokyo Midtown City Walk

■ Searching for Heroes and Villains of Light The Roppongi One-Mile. In a one-mile radius (1.6 km), there are over 40 embassies, 9 international schools, and National Art Center, Mori Art Museum, and Suntory Museum of Art completing a triangle of art. In the center of where world cultures and arts clash, Roppongi, Tokyo Midtown is trying to become a base for transmitting Japanese Design to the rest of the world. In this new landmark of Tokyo, Lighting Detective members went in search of Heroes and Villains of Light. See what they found in this new urban environment.

■ Heroes and Villains ...by: yuji sato
My overall impression is of a typical commercial facility catering to adults with a well-balanced lighting plan.

Prime example of a lighting hero is the unified appearance of the Galleria interior. Inside, simple translucent signage with black lettering gives the interior a clean-cut feeling. A single warm-colored fluorescent lamp in the bottom of the sign creates a beautiful gradation. The signs are also mounted at the perfect high, not blocked by people’s heads and all visible with one glance down the corridor. The shopping area has the feeling of a European high fashion street with most shops also using halogen lamps or similar low color temperature lamps to create a posh and unified space.

The second lighting hero I`d like to recognize is the small gallery space along the large columns in the atrium. The luminance and color temperature are high, but the blueish-white LED`s seems to capture the charm of the glass objects on display. Because the color temperature is different than that of the shops, it seems to draw more attention.

Overall, I could give the lighting plan a gold star, but looking at smaller parts of the whole, like not enough clearance for the cove lighting and the lamps are exposed; or the irregularity of light in the luminous wall; or the overabundance of downlights; or the intensity of the luminous ceiling are all villains in my book. Even if there where problems at the time of construction, I felt a little over-optimism about the whole project. As lighting designers we need to strive for what the famous architect Mies van der Rohe once said, “God dwells in the details.”

■ Heroes and Villains ...by: shigeki fuji
My personal lighting hero is actually the shadows of Hinokicho Park on the eastside of Midtown. Once a famous garden during the Edo period the original name of this ancient and honored area is “Shimizu Garden,” but now it rests quietly in the dark shadows of the Midtown towers. From the Japanese-style rest area, the Midtown Towers are reflected in the still pond and, from the opposite shore, the rest area reflects silently on the surface of the water. The modern towers and the traditional style of the garden, both reflecting quietly in the same pond and surrounded by the same still night is a very dramatic image.

My lighting villains are a few example of useless brightness. Because the complex is a great space to relax and enjoy, my eyes involuntarily found many lighting details that were less then pleasing. From the pedestrian bridge near the Ritz Carlton the tree up lights are a direct hit in the eyes and the ceiling up lights are fully exposed. Indirect lighting is used to control horizontal luminance levels while create comfortable spaces, with no use for unnecessary brightness.

■Heroes and Villains ...by: aiko furukawa
My lighting hero is the control of low horizontal luminance levels in the Galleria. Indirect ceiling cove lighting, and luminous signage along the vertical planes help keep the luminance levels down, but the space is comfortably lit making it feel expansive.

My lighting Villain is the rowing of glaring emergency pole lights near the Japanese garden. One could spend all day in this beautiful garden, but as soon as the sunsets the lights spoil the experience.

After Roppongi Hills, one could call Tokyo Midtown the second Roppongi Landmark, but I was hoping for a lighting plan to clearly distinguish the two. Five years have elapsed, but, unfortunately, Midtown lacks freshness, new technology, and originality in its light<BR>ing plan.

■Heroes and Villains ...by: mayumi ayasuda
This was my first city walk. Ascending the escalator from the basement floor, my lighting hero was the great chemistry created by water and light in this space. Natural daylight fills this space by day and would be just beautiful if moonlight had the same effect. Even though Roppongi is in the middle of an urban area I still dream about the possibility. The seasonal cafe in the grass square is another favorite area. Many people gather at this open-air venue giving it an air of festive excitement.

Along the walk I saw many places where I thought there was an overuse of light. The statues in the plaza seemed like they were in a photo-shoot it was so bright. Hard to say if this is appealing to the adult crowd. Many different trees were also planted along perimeter of the complex, but unfortunately not up lit at night.

■Night Gazing in Yokohama ...by: natsuko ueda
It has been a long time since the Lighting Detectives have been walked Yokohama. This autumn evening 24 members participated in the walk, along with member of the Yokohama City & Urban Design Group.

Our first stop on the tour was the Yokohama Marine Tower, not usually open to the public, but with special arrangements our group climbed to the top to view the night scene. The industrial area along the bay had an orangish glow from low-pressure sodium lamps, in contrast with the residential area, which had a whiteish glow from mercury lamps. The lighting surrounding Minato Mirai is a large part of the whole lightscape with signature lightmarks like the Landmark Tower, the colorful lights of the ferris wheel, and flood lights from the baseball stadium. Every direction in our 360-degree view presented a different story for the city.

After climbing the tower and jumping aboard a boat to see the best of Yokohama nightscape from the water, our last stop was the newly opened commercial complex, Yokohama Bay Quarter, followed up by the all-important post-walk dinner and discussion. The Lighting Detectives were able to hear straight from Yokohama City & Urban Design Group about invaluable topics concerning the city and how the nightscape can become even more dramatic and dynamic.

Yokohama Marine Tower View from the top.

■Marine Tower ...by: shigeki fuji
Marine Tower, built in 1961 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the reopening of Yokohama Bay, is the original symbol of Yokohama. Closed at the end of the 2006 Christmas season and set for reopen in the spring of 2009, the tower is in the middle of a makeover. However the Lighting Detectives were allowed special permission to climb the tower to observe the view. Black lights in the elevator accompanied us on the ride upwards to the 100 m high, 360° viewing observation deck. The viewing deck has the perfect lighting conditions for night gazing with only 0.5 lx at floor level. One lap around the tower provides an eyeful: waterfront loading docks with orange lighting, the Bay Bridge illuminated in blue light, the yellow ocher moon, white lights of the skyscrapers, glimpse between buildings of the lights from China town, and the elevated highway cutting through it all! The combination of all of these different lighting elements equals the Yokohama nightscape, and all together, the elements are individually perceived as heroes of light (except the stadium lighting, ugly!).

■Waterbus ...by: yusuke hattori

All Aboard! View from the waterbus. Mission complete!

Panaramic view of Yokohama nightscape.

10 December 2007
A Roppongi Christmas:
Comparison of Tokyo Midtown and Roppongi Hills Christmas Illuminations
by: rachel nakayama

■Tokyo Midtown
The theme for Tokyo Midtown was “Someone is always Santa Clause for someone else;” a lovely theme, but not very decipherable from the illuminations. A quick overview includes a sparkling rendition of the aurora borealis in the Plaza, a colorful display of stained glass in the Galleria, and a brilliant blue Milky Way in the Garden. In the image of the northern lights a dangly curtain of waves and motion was hung in the plaza. The installation seemed more crystal-like as the lights where mostly white colored. In the Galleria the Kiriko tree of cut stained glass continually changed colors and seemed to gather the most attention. At 8m tall it was quite impressive and visible from the far end of the garden. The ocean of little blue lights that covered most of the grassy area in the garden was actually the Milky Way with swirling stardust and shooting stars, all accompanied by music. Now this might have been a great place to have that cup of hot coffee and reflect, but it was just too bright and unsettling for my taste. Although most of the lights used were LED`s, the eco in me knows that there has to be a wiser use of light and definitely something friendlier on the eye.

■Roppongi Hills
From here we left the rookie venue behind and wandered over to Roppongi Hills with a simpler, but equally mysterious theme of “Artelligent Christmas.” The 66 Plaza was decorated in red; red lights for the trees, red spotlights, a red Christmas tree, and red “candlelight” in the Japanese garden. It was a new experience, as most Christmas illuminations tend to be white or orangish. Some on the walk thought all the red was overkill, but I figured a red filter added to the Spider spotlight in the plaza would top off the ensemble and create interesting color shadows. Up on the 52nd floor the Tokyo City View observation deck was decorated for the holiday season with a variety of lighting elements; all of which reflected in the glass windows, but didn’t disturb the view too much. Whether Christmas or not, this view is spectacular and always generates a tingle of excitement.

■Simple is Best
As the 20 plus group of us trooped through these two complexes and invaded the privacy of the many couples that had come to uh and ah, I realized that simple is best. The display of lights for Tokyo Midtown`s 1st Christmas was very explosive and at times blinding, but I think I prefer a more modest expression amongst all the pizzazz that comes with life and this commercialized holiday season. The unified red front of Roppongi Hills was more my style. The simplicity of a one-color scheme left a bigger impression and less “messing” definitely results in a more elegant show. Although, it is unfortunate that something more unique and trendy wasn’t designed for this popular area. Oh, and it is probably better to go with that special someone, rather than a group of analytical lighting detectives, spoils the holiday mood!