Lighting Design for Light-Ups: The Methods and People Behind the Nights of Castles, Bridges, Temples and Cities

The light-ups that illuminate castles, bridges, temples, shrines and towers at night are created by lighting designers, manufacturers and facility managers who choose the methods. Tokyo Tower switches light sources with the seasons, Tokyo Skytree controls more than 2,000 LED fixtures, and Himeji Castle chose the white light that illuminates its white plaster through lighting tests. Drawing on designers’ project profiles, local governments’ nighttime landscape materials and the records of the Illuminating Engineering Institute of Japan, this article sets out who was behind the main examples and what methods they used. It also covers how light-ups differ from projection mapping and how light pollution is taken into account.

From 2019 to 2023, the landmarks covered in this article continued to switch to LED light sources. Tokyo Tower launched the “Infinity Diamond Veil,” using 268 LEDs, in 2019, and the Rainbow Bridge converted its floodlights to LED in 2020. With its new light-up in 2023, Himeji Castle replaced its fixtures with LEDs and expects to cut CO2 emissions by about 60%.

Some lighting conveys messages through colored light. Himeji Castle holds color light-ups on awareness days for medical care, welfare and other causes. Shuto Expressway will light the Rainbow Bridge’s main towers purple from Sunday, November 15 to Tuesday, November 17 for World Prematurity Day. Meanwhile, nighttime landscape materials published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Urban Development include a lighting expert’s view that Tokyo is in a state of “light overeating,” overflowing with more light than necessary. The question is what to light, and how far.

What is light-up design? Who does it, and how it differs from projection mapping

According to materials published by the City of Hiroshima, landscape lighting is not simply lighting to make the city brighter. It includes lighting that showcases urban spaces more beautifully and attractively, such as lighting up buildings and facilities with full-color LED lighting and floodlights. The Ministry of the Environment’s Light Pollution Guidelines also count searchlights, light-ups and lighting used temporarily for events and the like as landscape lighting.

Projection mapping uses light differently. A draft of nighttime landscape standards that the City of Kobe presented to its Urban Landscape Council defines the terms. Projection mapping is a visual staging system that uses large digital projectors to project images onto building walls and other surfaces. Staging that installs LEDs or other light sources on a building’s surface to change color and brightness is called “facade lighting,” and staging that shows buildings in vivid colors is classified separately as “color lighting.” The basics of the technique are introduced in our explainer on projection mapping.

Some examples combine light-ups with illuminations. The Rainbow Bridge pairs the light-up of its main towers with “cable illumination” that changes color over time. Illuminations as winter events are introduced in our roundup of illuminations in Tokyo and the Kanto region.

The work is not done by lighting designers alone. Recipients of the Japan Lighting Award, established by the Illuminating Engineering Institute of Japan in 1981, include facility owners and managers and lighting manufacturers’ engineers alongside designers. The 9th award (1990) went to Motoko Ishii for “Creating Humane Light Spaces in Landscape and Urban Environmental Lighting.” The 44th award in 2026 went to the lighting system of the Grand Ring at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, with recipients including Sou Fujimoto and Hiroyasu Shoji of LIGHTDESIGN.

Tower lighting design: Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Skytree

Tokyo Tower

The classic “Landmark Light” makes the tower stand out with 180 lights. In summer it uses silver light from metal halide lamps, and in winter warm orange light from high-pressure sodium lamps. It switches to the summer version from the night of July 7 each year and to the winter version from a night in early October (official website). By changing the type of light source, the color of the light changes with the seasons.

The “Infinity Diamond Veil” began in October 2019. It varies the light of 268 LED lights installed on 17 levels to create a variety of light color patterns. It is lit in a color designated for each month every Monday and Thursday from 20:00 to 22:00, and when the design changes, white light envelops the entire tower and twinkles slowly for four minutes. From sunset until 24:00, there is also a two-minute “pure white sparkle” on the hour.

Subject: Tokyo Tower
Lighting design: Motoko Ishii Lighting Design Inc. (its project list includes “Tokyo Tower” and “Tokyo Tower Light-up Infinity Diamond Veil”)
Period: Infinity Diamond Veil since October 2019
Methods: Landmark Light with seasonally switched light sources (metal halide lamps in summer, high-pressure sodium lamps in winter) and color effects using 268 LEDs
Sources: Tokyo Tower official website, Motoko Ishii Lighting Design’s project list

Tokyo Skytree

Tokyo Skytree opened in spring 2012. The lighting plan initially assumed HID (high-intensity discharge) lamps, but calls for energy savings and other factors led to studies on using LEDs for everything. According to Panasonic’s case study, it developed dedicated fixtures to achieve an all-LED system of 1,995 units in total. The floodlights that pin-spot the top of the gain tower from about 140 m away use large 600 mm-diameter reflectors. The fixtures are digitally controlled via optical fiber.

Lighting design was by Hirohito Totsune (Sirius Lighting Office), with design and supervision by Nikken Sekkei. According to Totsune, “Iki” is a pale blue light inspired by the water of the Sumida River, illuminating the central shaft that runs through the tower. “Miyabi” likens the tower to a figure draped in its fine steel structure, with Edo purple as its theme color. The plan started by alternating the two patterns day by day, and lighting “Iki” saves about 43% of energy compared with conventional light sources.

On May 18, 2017, “Nobori,” designed and developed jointly by Panasonic, Tobu Tower Skytree and Totsune, was added. The design raises a giant banner in the night sky, carrying a message of energizing all of Tokyo. The number of fixtures rose to 2,075, and apart from “Nobori,” there are 38 lighting designs (Panasonic announcement, 2017). This winter, from Thursday, November 5 to Friday, December 25, three special Christmas lighting designs switch about every 15 minutes (Tokyo Skytree Town announcement).

Subject: Tokyo Skytree
Lighting design: Hirohito Totsune (Sirius Lighting Office). Design and supervision by Nikken Sekkei; lighting fixtures by Panasonic
Period: “Iki” and “Miyabi” since the 2012 opening; “Nobori” since May 18, 2017
Methods: All-LED fixtures, long-distance pin-spotting, optical fiber control, and effects using color and movement
Sources: Panasonic case study, Panasonic announcement (May 19, 2017), Tokyo Skytree official website, Tokyo Skytree Town announcement

Bridge lighting design: The Rainbow Bridge

The Rainbow Bridge is a 798 m-long suspension bridge built as a joint project by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Metropolitan Expressway Public Corporation (now Shuto Expressway), and opened on August 26, 1993. According to an article on the government’s public relations website Gov-Online (March 2024), the light-up was planned so that the area could become the “face” of the Rinkai Fukutoshin waterfront sub-center. It was based on three perspectives: “improving the city’s aesthetics,” “ensuring urban safety” and “expanding the time and space of daily life.”

The Illuminating Engineering Institute of Japan’s Japan Lighting Award (12th, 1993) went to “Planning and Implementation of the Rainbow Bridge Landscape Lighting.” The recipients included staff of the Metropolitan Expressway Public Corporation, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Port and Harbor, Motoko Ishii Lighting Design, Toshiba Lighting & Technology and Matsushita Electric Works. According to the firm’s profile, it also received a top award from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America for the bridge in 1994. The firm’s project list also includes the Tokyo Gate Bridge, the Yokohama Bay Bridge, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and 10 bridges over the Sumida River.

In 2020, renovation work converting the floodlights to LED was completed, greatly reducing power consumption while reproducing the original design without changing it. From about 30 minutes after sunset until 24:00, the main towers and the entire underside of the deck are illuminated, and the lower parts of the anchorages are brightly lit as well. The main towers are lit in a cool white in summer (April to October) and a warm white in winter (November to March), and the cable illumination switches among white, green and coral pink depending on the time.

The colors change on certain days. Shuto Expressway turned the cable illumination green on October 16 for Green Ribbon Day. From Sunday, November 15 to Tuesday, November 17, the main towers will be lit purple for World Prematurity Day (from 30 minutes after sunset to 22:00).

Subject: Rainbow Bridge (Port of Tokyo)
Lighting design: Motoko Ishii Lighting Design Inc. (per its project list and the Illuminating Engineering Institute of Japan award recipients)
Period: Opened in 1993; floodlights converted to LED in 2020
Methods: Light-up of the main towers with seasonally adjusted shades of white, and cable illumination that changes color over time
Sources: Gov-Online, Illuminating Engineering Institute of Japan, Shuto Expressway

Castle, temple and shrine lighting design: Himeji Castle, Byodo-in Phoenix Hall and Kiyomizu-dera

Himeji Castle

On March 25, 2023, the City of Himeji launched the new “Saiun Light-up,” designed and supervised by Motoko Ishii. The city says it reproduced the castle’s plaster walls for lighting tests and repeatedly studied which white light would make the white plaster look most beautiful. The white light-up runs from sunset until 24:00, and since February 29, 2024, it has illuminated the stone walls and turrets in addition to the keep.

For 15 minutes each from 20:00 and 21:00 every day, special seasonal effects are staged with color LED lighting. The upper part of the main keep is lit with white light, while the lower part of the keep complex is lit up with two pale colors evoking Himeji’s nature, culture, flowers and trees, with gentle movement like iridescent clouds. Replacing the existing fixtures with LEDs is expected to cut CO2 emissions from the light-up by about 60%. The city positions it as part of its “Zero Carbon Castle” initiative.

Subject: Himeji Castle (Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture)
Lighting design: Motoko Ishii (design and supervision)
Period: Since March 25, 2023; stone walls and turrets added from February 29, 2024
Methods: White light chosen through lighting tests, color LED effects at 20:00 and 21:00, conversion to LED
Sources: City of Himeji

Byodo-in Phoenix Hall

The Illuminating Engineering Institute of Japan’s Japan Lighting Award (33rd, 2014) went to the project to light up the Byodo-in Phoenix Hall with LED lighting. The recipients included Monsho Kamii of the religious corporation Byodo-in, engineers from Toshiba Lighting & Technology and Susumu Matsushita of Susumu Matsushita Architectural and Lighting Design Office.

According to Byodo-in, after the completion of the Heisei-era restoration of the Phoenix Hall, special nighttime viewings including the light-up of the hall became a regular spring and autumn event from around 2017. On September 9, 2026, the temple announced that it would suspend the special nighttime viewings after the spring 2026 edition. Among its reasons, it cited several events coming up within the temple for the time being, beginning with preparations for the completion of the Kannon-do hall, which is under repair, and said that the timing of a resumption is undecided.

Subject: Byodo-in Phoenix Hall
Lighting design: Japan Lighting Award recipients include Susumu Matsushita of Susumu Matsushita Architectural and Lighting Design Office and engineers from Toshiba Lighting & Technology
Period: Japan Lighting Award in 2014; special nighttime viewings including the light-up of the Phoenix Hall from around 2017 to spring 2026
Methods: Light-up with LED lighting
Sources: Illuminating Engineering Institute of Japan, Byodo-in

Kiyomizu-dera

During its special nighttime viewings in spring, summer and autumn, Kiyomizu-dera extends its opening hours until 21:30 (last entry 21:00). In autumn 2026, they run from November 21 to 30. The temple explains that the single beam of blue light cast from its grounds represents the compassion of Kannon. The official website does not state the lighting equipment or who designed it. Nighttime visits in Kyoto are introduced in our roundup of nighttime visits and light-ups in Kyoto.

Local governments’ nighttime landscape plans and consideration for light pollution

How to light a city as a whole at night is also an issue for local governments’ landscape policy. The document “Initiatives for Nighttime Landscape Formation,” published on the website of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Urban Development, includes a lighting expert’s opinion. It points out that Tokyo is in a state of “light overeating,” overflowing with more light than necessary, and that rather than competing over light-ups, holding down overall light and illuminating with good-quality light would make the effects stand out.

The same document also introduces the policy of the bureau’s “Grand Design for Urban Development” (September 2017): relevant organizations would work together to light up high-rise clusters, expressways, bridges and the like in a unified way for each area, and nearby buildings would be asked to cooperate by turning off their lights after a certain time. Along the Sumida and Kanda rivers, the standard is not to direct excessive lighting at the river. As future initiatives, the document lists adding nighttime landscape policies to the landscape plan. It also mentions the “Basic Policy on Lighting Up Public Facilities (tentative name),” for which the Office of the Governor for Policy Planning released a draft in December 2017, with finalization planned for March 2018.

The City of Kobe’s draft nighttime landscape standards state that lighting visible from outside should be based on warm bulb-colored light, and that moving, flashing or color-changing lights should not be used in principle, with exceptions such as those that create a high-quality nighttime landscape. The City of Hiroshima’s materials list eight basic principles of “akari” (light): appropriate color temperature, brightness on vertical surfaces, glare control, balanced shading, color rendering, consideration in the use of colored light, operation, and environmental consideration. Warm, low-color-temperature “bulb color” light is said to suit tourist areas and residential areas.

The Ministry of the Environment’s Light Pollution Guidelines (revised in March 2021) also address color temperature. They say that, unless there is a special reason for a particular light color, choosing fixtures with as low a correlated color temperature as possible (such as bulb color) helps limit environmental impacts. Late at night, when demand for lighting falls, controlling lights to a low correlated color temperature and the minimum brightness helps reduce environmental impacts and glare and prevent global warming. Consideration for cultural properties is covered in our article on projection mapping on cultural properties and the care it requires.

Editor’s perspective

Laying out the examples shows that lighting design for light-ups is the work of deciding what to show of a building. Skytree’s “Iki” shows the central shaft and “Miyabi” the steel structure, while Himeji Castle confirmed the white of its plaster through lighting tests. The Rainbow Bridge reproduced its original design even when converting to LED. Even as light sources change, designs that let people read a building’s form and materials are being carried on.

On the other hand, Panasonic says that systems for controlling LED fixtures at high speed have made a wide variety of effects possible. Himeji Castle limits its color effects to two 15-minute slots each night and keeps white light as the basis. Kobe’s draft avoids moving light and color changes in principle, and the Ministry of the Environment’s guidelines say that adopting low color temperatures helps limit environmental impacts. When, and how much, to use colored light is left to the judgment of each landmark.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a light-up and projection mapping?

A light-up is lighting that illuminates buildings and facilities with floodlights and the like, and the City of Hiroshima’s materials and the Ministry of the Environment’s Light Pollution Guidelines treat it as part of landscape lighting. The City of Kobe’s draft nighttime landscape standards define projection mapping as “a visual staging system that uses large digital projectors to project images onto the walls of buildings and other surfaces.”

Which landmarks change the color of their light with the seasons?

Tokyo Tower’s Landmark Light switches light sources: silver light from metal halide lamps in summer and orange light from high-pressure sodium lamps in winter. The Rainbow Bridge’s main towers are also lit in a cool white in summer (April to October) and a warm white in winter (November to March).

What special lighting can be seen this winter?

Tokyo Skytree has special Christmas lighting from Thursday, November 5 to Friday, December 25, 17:30–22:00. On December 24 and 25 it runs until 24:00, and there are days when it is not lit. The Rainbow Bridge lights its main towers purple from Sunday, November 15 to Tuesday, November 17. Tokyo Tower’s Infinity Diamond Veil is lit every Monday and Thursday from 20:00 to 22:00.

Articles organized by each stage of planning are gathered in our guide for those planning projection mapping and light events.

*Information as of October 21, 2026. Please check the official websites for the latest information.

*Top image: Tokyo Skytree lighting (from left: Ornament Tree, Elegant Tree, Santa Claus) ©TOKYO-SKYTREE (from Tokyo Skytree Town’s press release)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on official announcements and public materials from each institution and organizer (as of October 21, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team

A note from the publisher

HITOHATA, INC., an affiliate of HITOHATA ASSOCIATION, the general incorporated association that operates TOKYO ART SPHERE, plans, directs, produces and operates projection mapping at National Treasures, Important Cultural Properties, World Heritage Sites and urban landmarks, as well as immersive exhibitions. Consultations also cover staging and equipment tailored to the conditions of a venue and projection surface. Inquiries, including those at the stage before a budget is set, are accepted through HITOHATA, INC.’s contact form (which has an option for local government and public projects). The company’s past work is introduced on HITOHATA, INC.’s project portfolio page.