Excessive wealth

Yuichiro Noguchi
Aug 25, 2025
4 min read

Updated: Aug 26, 2025

"San to the shadow of the shadow", "aptuitable light and appropriate place", "multi-light dispersion"... Words that always come up when you learn lighting design.

Lighting design is a field that is still unfamiliar to both the general and the industry.

Speaking of the lighting plan of the house, until recently, a ceiling light in the center of the room was enough, and in the clever living room, there was a chandelier in the center and a downlight in the four corners.

Although it is the present in the process of moving from ceiling lights to downlights, people who bought their dream home and started living in it often say that "the room is somehow dark".

Until now, the so-called "one room, one light" was taken for granted by ceiling lights, but in recent years, the number of ceiling lights has decreased, and the plan to place multiple downlights instead is mainly It's a trend.

However, there are few basic ideas and knowledge about lighting designs such as "shadow praise", "appropriate light in the right place" and "multi-light dispersion" as mentioned at the beginning, and the current situation is only replaced by ceiling lights to downlights, and the basic The idea of lighting remains "one room, one light".

Ceiling lights illuminate the entire room with light diffused throughout from a large disc, but downlights basically emit light directly below.

Originally, each lighting has a different nature and purpose, but only the cleanness of the appearance is prioritized more than that, and the basic lighting design ideas such as "one room, one light" and "multiple lights dispersion" remain outdated.

Therefore, the unbalanced lighting plan, which is used differently from the original, gives the impression that it is "somehow dark" when you start living there.

Such users' "More light!" As if responding to the voice, there are more and more proposals such as 8 downlights placed in a space of only 8 tatami mats, that if it is too bright, it can be turned off, or that it can be adjusted using a dimmer.

It's like wearing winter clothes in a cold room with air conditioning in the middle of summer, and taking them off if it's hot.

In addition, the lighting light attached to the ceiling surface is also installed with a much higher illumination than the actual required illumination to ensure the necessary brightness at hand.

The pure white space surrounded by white walls, white ceilings, and bright floors has maximized the minimum light on the ceiling and is ideal for a life that prioritizes efficiency.

However, in such a sense, I think it's a game to say whether a home that focuses on productivity is human, like offices and factories.

Staying in the bright light of fluorescent lamps, both day and night, until just before going to bed, is only stressful for people.

House building should be getting better and better, but as a result of becoming too complicated, there are many unbalanced things.

The evolution of technology has given us convenience, but on the other hand, there are fewer opportunities to meet and talk in person, and even family members are locked in their own private rooms and can do it on SNS without meeting face to face...

While I was able to get the information I wanted whenever I wanted, I felt unnecessary stress from being exposed to excessive information, and I spent time getting unnecessary information, and my communication with my family was despised....

I think it's many times nicer and more important to have a house where the family can live happily, even if it's small and has nothing, than a house with everything like "what do you have" or "what kind of facilities it has" or "a large house that is good". I don't think I'm the only one.

Wouldn't the faint light of a candle suit such a home better than a sparkling and bright space with an expensive chandelier?

Lighting design is to make the life of residents more comfortable through lighting planning and space design.

"Light is not a symbol of that person's authority, but a proof of sensibility regardless of whether rich or poor, giving quality to life and filling any world with light."

As the sculptor Issam Noguchi said, the lights are just there and fascinate people.

The essence of lighting design is to carefully unravel the actions of our lives one by one, create beautiful lights and scenes in our homes, and bring people new values and experiences that have never been seen before, along with moments of relaxation and healing. It's nothing else.

They are by no means the value of superficial things such as sculptural beauty and status, let alone convenient and comfortable functionality.

The "light" itself has no shape, and when the light shines on objects such as walls, it is recognized by human eyes for the first time.

Great lighting design should design the invisible "light" and teach us the meaning of "universal values = true wealth" such as the quality of life and the joy of life.