Projects

Commercial Lighting Aquarium

“Kaikyokan” Shimonoseki City AquariumShimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture

Home to a wide range of exhibits characteristic of Shimonoseki, LED light highlights the charm of the aquarium

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  • Kanmon Straits tank, where visitors are able to look out at the Kanmon Straits through the window at the rear of its eponymous tank, as they enjoy up-close views of the fish living within it. Recreating the tides of the Kanmon Strait, visitors can enjoy a landscape blending seamlessly with the real thing in the distance. A lighting environment has been devised to maintain balance with the natural light coming through the glass window, enabling the depth and perspective of the underwater world as well as the appearance and movements of the creatures to be seen vividly.

  • The "Kanmon Strait" tank recreates the three seas that surround Shimonoseki: the Sea of Japan, the Kanmon Strait, and the Seto Inland Sea.

  • The "Kanmon Straits" tank is illuminated by indoor use high-efficiency LEDioc FLOOD AVANT class 400 floodlights, with high color rendering type LEDioc FLOOD NEO class 80 floodlights placed at the front.

  • LEDioc FLOOD NEO class 80 floodlights in situ.

  • Located on the second and third floors, the "Dolphin Stadium" hosts presentations on dolphins and sea lions.

  • The popular "Dolphin Stadium" hosts unique performances by dolphins and sea lions, which is relatively rare in Japan.

  • High-efficiency LEDioc FLOOD AVANT wide-angle floodlights illuminate the ceiling to provide a comfortable lighting ambiance.

  • LEDioc FLOOD NEO Vivid class 20 high color rendering floodlights accentuate the vivacity of the colors they illuminate. (Dolphin Stadium)

  • Located in the "Pufferfish of the World Zone", the "Pufferfish of All Shapes & Sizes" tank is home to around 100 different varieties of pufferfish. High color rendering LEDioc Flood NEO class 40 floodlights have been used to accentuate their white skin and smooth texture, creating an environment that showcasing the lively vivacity of the pufferfish.

  • LEDioc FLOOD NEO class 120 floodlights, installed above the "Tiger Pufferfish" tank.

  • The "Tiger Pufferfish" tank evokes the local ambiance of Shimonoseki. In addition to lighting from above, LEDioc MULTILINE trough-shaped fixtures placed along the rear of the tank enhance the sense of depth and three-dimensionality.

  • LEDioc MULTILINE trough shape fixtures, installed to the rear of the "Tiger Pufferfish" tank.

  • The "Seto Inland Sea" tank features an underwater tunnel where visitors can enjoy the sensation of being within the ocean while watching schools of sardines swim by; LEDioc HIGH-BAY λ 180W type high-bay luminaires brightly illuminate the tank whilst also delivering energy savings.

  • The "Sea of Eelgrass" tank. With Eelgrass considered difficult to cultivate, prototype LED lighting fixture for growing seaweed has been installed - through controlling wavelengths to stimulate photosynthesis, the installation seeks to successfully cultivate beautiful Eelgrass.

  • LEDioc Flood NEO class 80 floodlights illuminate the soothing setting of the "Jellyfish" tank, with jellyfish floating gently around it.

  • Exterior daytime view of the aquarium, located on the Shimonoseki City waterfront and facing the Kanmon Straits.

about

Installation date

August, 2025

Location

Situated in the waterfront area in Shimonoseki City and facing the Kanmon Straits, the "Kaikyokan" Shimonoseki City Aquarium is based around a key theme of "Sea Life : Life and Sea", and it undertakes a variety of initiatives to further understanding of the relationship between humans and nature, the wonder of life, and the importance of conservation through the ecology of aquatic life. The museum features a wide variety of unique exhibits, ranging from an aquarium themed around the symbolic Kanmon Straits of Shimonoseki, to one of the largest penguin exhibition facilities in Japan - a place where visitors can meet a bird that is symbolic for the city. Shimonoseki boasts the highest catch volume of pufferfish in Japan, and as befitting a city that has designated it as its representative fish, the aquarium also features a comprehensive exhibition of pufferfish - the fish with the largest number of species in the world.

Shimonoseki Aquarium Kaikyokan enjoyed a reopening in August 2025 following large-scale facilities and equipment renovations which saw the addition of the new "Finfoot Beach" attraction - a sea lion exhibition and breeding facility. With the works forming part of the "Zero Carbon City Shimonoseki" city policy, LED luminaires from Iwasaki Electric Co., Ltd. were selected to illuminate the "Kanmon Straits" tank, "Dolphin Stadium", the pufferfish, jellyfish, and eelgrass tanks, and the "Seto Inland Sea" tank, amongst others. In converting to LED the aim was to accentuate the true beauty of the creatures whilst also providing a comfortable viewing environment across the whole aquarium. The works essentially saw the existing light installations replaced on a one-for-one basis, with light directionality and brightness balance being redesigned whilst making the most of the existing installation positions.

The "Kanmon Straits" tank has been furnished with a combination of high-color-rendering indoor-use LEDioc FLOOD AVANT class 400 and LEDioc FLOOD NEO class 80 floodlights, while the tank containing the tiger pufferfish - renowned as a particularly exotic variant - is furnished with LEDioc FLOOD NEO class 120 floodlights above the tank and LEDioc MULTILINE trough-shaped LED floodlights along the back, creating a greater sense of depth than ever before. Light colors, luminance, and presentation methods have been tailored to the respective themes of each exhibition area to create a space where visitors are able to experience the combination of the rhythm of light together with the diversity of the ocean. The adoption of LED lighting fixtures which deliver brightness levels on a par with the existing mercury and sodium lamps, has resulted in significant energy savings together with exhibits that are clearer and more vivid, which has been well received by visitors.

Specification

  • LEDioc MULTILINE trough shape 1200mm type - 25

  • LEDioc LED Baselight 40W trough shape - 4

  • LEDioc HIGH-BAY λ 180W type - 5

  • LEDioc FLOOD NEO Vivid

    class 80 - 3

    class 20 - 15

  • LEDioc LED Downlight class 150 - 3

  • LEDioc FLOOD NEO

    class 40 - 2

    class 80 - 27

    class 120 - 4

    class 150 - 5

  • LEDioc FLOOD AVANT

    class 150 - 3

    class 400 - 3

  • LEDioc FLOOD AVANT Indoor type class 400 - 9

  • ITACS-self Manual dimmer - 5