Projects
Sports Lighting Racecourse
Funabashi RacecourseFunabashi City, Chiba Prefecture
Hearts race at night-time race events employing measures to minimize light pollution in the surrounding environment
Add to My ListChiba Prefecture's Funabashi Racecourse is a racecourse that opened in 1950. Located in Funabashi City, it is an historically significant racecourse in that at the time of its opening it also included an auto race dirt-course (the Japanese version of a motorcycle speedway) located on the inside of its horseracing track. It is where Japan's first auto race was held. The racecourse itself features an anticlockwise dirt-course 25m wide with a lap length of 1400m and is able to handle a full gate of 14 horses. The surrounding area is visited by migratory birds and includes Yatsu-higata, a Ramsar Site wetland. When holding night-time events at the racecourse, there is a need for the lighting equipment to have a minimal effect on the Yatsu-higata ecosystem. Accordingly, floodlights with internal shade louvers were installed to keep spill-light into the surrounding area under control. The height of the light poles has also been kept to a minimum. For the track interior there are 45×14.5m lighting poles and 3×19.5m light poles installed. Floodlights have also been mounted on the large roof above the stands and on top of the administration office. The "Heart Beat Naita" night-time races were held on 15 June 2015 and despite being held over five weekdays the attendance rate increased 233% compared to the same period in the previous year. There is a real sense of there being an increase in people who had previously had no connection with horseracing, including salarymen in business shirts and also female visitors. It is only the seventh location in Japan to offer night-time races. All staff are united in their efforts to keep the passion alive in this extraordinary place to experience the "heart-racing" effect of the intense races, as well as the exciting atmosphere that accompanies them.
Specification
ACROSTAR (EYE Multi Metal Halide Lamp 1.5kW) - 550
ACROSPACE (EYE Multi Metal Halide Lamp 1kW) - 4
LEDioc CEILING HB - 8
LEDioc FLOOD NEO 60W - 18
EYE SPOLART - 6
EYE HALOGEN LIGHT(EYE Halogen Lamp) - 20
LED Lamp LDL40 - 35
LEDioc FLOOD SPOLART 210W type - 2