Japan's recent tsunami and earthquakes have left parts of the country in darkness from power blackouts.Jill Entwistle speaks to some of the country's lighting designers as they reassess the way they use light.
The media circus may have rolled on,but the legacy of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan earlier this year will be more long term.One of the many compelling problems the country faces is the loss of many of its 54 nuclear reactors,which supply around 25 per cent of Japan's electricity.The number of reactors damaged varies in different reports,but Bloomberg reported recently that 38 remain offline.According to a Business Week report,an electrical generating capacity of 21,000 megawatts was lost through the disaster,roughly equivalent to the electrical output of ten Hoover Dams.
The need to conserve electricity has led to a series of rolling blackouts.This power rationing has affected millions of people from the north-east coast down to Shizuoka,200km south of Tokyo.While this has had implications for a whole range of day-to-day activities,from transport to manufacturing,the most overt deprivation is the loss of lighting.
"I feel we are still in a position where we can talk about lighting design on a quality basis"Emiko Nagata,senior associate,Lighting Planners Associates
While we continue to face the global dilemma of diminishing energy resources,a need for CO2 reduction and debate issues of light pollution and the excessive lighting of our cities,the Japanese experience might give us pause for thought.Are we glimpsing a potential future where we are forced to be less profligate with our power reserves?And how have the Japanese reacted to suddenly being deprived of something we regard as intrinsic to civilisation in the first world?
In Tokyo and the surrounding Kanto region,and in the Tohoku region to the north-east,power savings of 15 per cent have been imposed on large companies and public facilities,with many people,initially,cutting back voluntarily.According to Emiko Nagata,senior associate at Lighting Planners Associates,half of the lighting in subway stations was turned off,stores and restaurants switched off their signage lights and around half of their interior lighting.Offices left ceiling lights off,providing instead portable task lights.Many street vending machines were running,but without backlighting.
"For a while,Tokyo Tower isappeared into a dark sky at night and so did many of the building fa?ades and signage lighting in busy areas like Roppongi,Ginza and Shinjuku,"says Nagata."It was a sad cityscape to see at first,as it was a visual symbol of the seriousness of the disaster,but it was not a bad experience.
Black and white
"I had never seen a Ginza streetscape with no fa?ade lighting in the evening.I felt like I was looking at a black and white picture of the town,but with a very quiet and peaceful feeling.Though,I could imagine that having all the lights back on would be encouraging for people."
Hiroyasu Shoji of LightDesign Inc in Tokyo agreed that the response has not been as negative as might have been predicted."Most Japanese people have had a positive reaction to the darkened cities,"says Shoji."People say that the cities were too bright in Japan before the earthquake crisis,or that it just felt right.Some other people seem to enjoy the darkness;they say it reminds them of being in London or Paris."
Akihiko Kawabata,Osaka-based partner of DPA Lighting Consultants,has also found mixed reactions,but says,"We are able to accept this situation because of the feelings we have for the people who are damaged by the earthquake.As Japanese we are willing to share some of what they have suffered."
The blackouts have had a clear social effect,adds Kawabata."Some companies started the summer time schedule or rearranged their summer holidays.As a result,the use of our time was changed.Workers leave their companies early and spend their time with their families,and some people enjoy their hobbies as well.There is no doubt that our interest in powersaving is increasing more than before."
"Some other people seem to enjoy the darkness;they say it reminds them of being in London or Paris"Hiroyasu Shoji,LightDesign Inc
Although Japan is considered one of the most energy-efficient countries in the world,the blackouts have been a revelation for the way in which lighting is used,and verused,says Nagata."It was an eye-opening experience with regard to the interior spaces.Turning off half of the lights in offices,public facilities and transportation made quite a difference to our everyday lives.Not only lighting designers but also business owners and thegeneral public realised that we had overused lighting over the years.Many of us felt that the temporary darkened environment was not affecting our activities and tasks.
"It brought home what we always explain to our clients–good lighting is not about the quantity but the quality.Where to illuminate,how to illuminate,what to illuminate,and how to operate with darkness and brightness in mind.Our experiences reminded us that good lighting and lighting design could help in finding a balance between energy-saving solutions and a quality environment."
