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Urbanscape Lighting Feature Lighting
"Plum Festival" illuminations, Yushima Tenmangu ShrineBunkyo Ward, Tokyo
The wonderfully scented plum orchard of Yushima Tenmangu is whimsically illuminated with LED light for the festival to celebrate its blossoming
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Featuring a traditional Japanese water garden, the plum orchard with its gentle fragrances is illuminated with warm LED lighting to create an ambiance that is different to the daytime.
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With around 300 trees across 20 varieties of plum tree in full bloom, the "Yakanbai" illuminations bring a flourish to Yushima Tenmangu Shrine by night.
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The pretty petals of the white plum blossoms herald the arrival of spring.
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Brimming with emotion, the nightscape of Yushima Tenmangu Shrine - a place famed for its plum trees, which has been viewed with affection since the Edo era.
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The main building of Yushima Tenmangu Shrine is illuminated with LEDioc FLOOD NEO Vivid class80 floodlights.
©KURAMATA Corporation. -
The compact form of LEDioc UNO LED spotlights ensures their visibility is minimized.
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Daytime view of "Meotozaka", the Yushima Tenmangu Shrine rear gate, where the ascent is adorned midway with a gateway.
Steeped in a long and rich history spanning back to the year 458 when it is said to have been established, Yushima Tenmangu Shrine is where "Ame-no-Tajikarao-no-Mikoto" - a deity from Japanese mythology - and "Sugawara no Michizane" - an ancient scholar, poet and politician - are enshrined. Also known as the Yushima Tenjin Shrine, it has long been cherished as "Tenjin-sama". As the site of enshrinement of Sugawara-no-Michizane who is revered as a God of Learning, the shrine is visited by many students each year during exam season to pray for success, and it is seen as one of the three "Tenmangu" shrines in the Kanto region.
It is said that plum trees are deeply linked to Sugawara-no-Michizane, and with around 300 of them across 20 varieties planted within its grounds, the shrine is renowned as one of the foremost sites for plum trees in the capital area; in February to March each year when they approach their finest appearance, they are celebrated with the "Plum Festival". Throughout the duration of the "Plum Festival", the "Yakanbai" (Plum trees of the shrine by night) illumination program sees the trees illuminated between dusk and the closing time of the grounds at 8 PM, providing an ambiance at night which differs to that of the daytime. As the festival approached its 65th edition, lighting improvement works were carried out with the installation of compact LEDioc UNO LED spotlights which were selected for the way their simple design ensures the luminaires themselves remain visually discreet whilst embellishing the magical nighttime scenery of the wonderfully scented plum orchard. With the branches of the plum trees growing outwards laterally when blossoming, it was important to be creative with the pointing angles of the luminaires so that the blossoms could be enjoyed in a natural line of sight; there was also a need to be cautious with the positioning of the luminaires and cables due to the presence of underground amenities such as sprinkler systems.
Pleasingly, the resulting "Yakanbai" illuminations that glow in the warmth of the LED lighting scheme have been widely enjoyed by many throughout the festival period, with the positive reception towards them manifested in many ways including through the numerous pictures posted on social media. In addition to the springtime "Plum Festival" which has come to be recognized as one of the five main flower festivals in Bunkyo City, the Yushima Tenmangu Shrine is also introducing a "Chrysanthemum Festival" which takes place in November, seeking to create a program of events through which the changes across the seasons can be enjoyed; please do visit and enjoy a peaceful moment at this shrine in the heart of the city.
Specification
LEDioc UNO class30 - 22
LEDioc FLOOD NEO Vivid class80 - 4 (installed in April 2022)
