Japanese Prefer a Bright Light

Feb 4, 2016 17:02
Thoughts and preferences seem to be different between countries.

Japanese tend to prefer a refreshing white light rather than a warm bulb light.

In fact, fluorescent lamps are equipped in almost all Japanese households.

Therefore, rooms in Japan are very bright even at night.

On the other hand, in Europe and the US, only required places are illuminated by incandescent light bulbs, and fluorescent lamps are not used so much.

If you use only the required brightness in the required places, you can save on electricity, and it will not disturb our your living rhythm.

For these reasons, recently in Japan, the modality of the illumination has been reconsidered.
日本人は明るいのが好き

照明に対する考え方や好みは、国によって差があるようです。

日本人は暖かい電球色よりもさわやかな白い光を好み傾向があり、実際ほとんどの家庭には蛍光灯が備え付けられています。

そのため部屋の中では、夜でもとても明るいです。

一方、欧米では蛍光灯はあまり使われず、白熱電球などで必要な箇所のみを照らしています。

必要な場所を必要な明るさで照らしたほうが、節電にもなり、我々の生活リズムにも影響を与えにくいと考えられます。

このような理由から、近年日本では、照明のありかたが見直されつつあります。
No. 1 kusaimamekirai's correction
  • If you use only the required brightness in the required places, you can save on electricity, and it will not disturb our your living rhythm.
  • If you use only the required brightness in the required places, you can save on electricity, and it will not disturb the rhythm of your life.
  • For these reasons, recently in Japan, the modality of the illumination has been reconsidered.
  • For these reasons, recently in Japan, the modality of light has been reconsidered.
Hmmm...I think even in Japan this has changed maybe.
Maybe you know Tanizaki Junichiro's essay 「陰翳礼讃」。
He said in 1933 that Japanese people like dim light and Western people like bright lights.
I think the truth is some people like bright and some people like dark. Depends on the person more than the country :)
Toru
Thank you so much for correcting my post!
I didn't know the essay, so I read it today.
As you say, Japanese people had seemed to pursue the beauty in dim light at that time. Maybe you're right, it depends on the person. Since the source of this post was written by a Japanese person, it might be biased. Sorry, I will rewrite my sentences using hearsay expressions, and thank you for letting me know :)
kusaimamekirai
It's ok! You don't have to rewrite it :)
We all have our biases maybe but the important thing is to not let our biases cloud our judgement.
Toru
Thank you for the nice comment!
I'll be more careful :)
No. 2 callmefilip's correction
  • Japanese Prefer a Bright Light
  • Japanese Like It Bright!
     This wording is closer to what you wrote in Japanese.
  • Thoughts and preferences seem to be different between countries.
  • Thoughts and preferences seem to differ between countries.
  • Japanese tend to prefer a refreshing white light rather than a warm bulb light.
  • Japanese people tend to prefer a refreshing white light, rather than a warm bulb light.
     When translating 日本人 as a collective noun (people/nation), you should use "Japanese people". When referring to a person, you can use "Japanese" (e.g. 彼は日本人であります -> He is Japanese)
  • In fact, fluorescent lamps are equipped in almost all Japanese households.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Therefore, rooms in Japan are very bright even at night.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • On the other hand, in Europe and the US, only required places are illuminated by incandescent light bulbs, and fluorescent lamps are not used so much.
  • On the other hand, in Europe and the US, only required places are illuminated by incandescent light bulbs, and fluorescent lamps are not frequently used.
  • If you use only the required brightness in the required places, you can save on electricity, and it will not disturb our your living rhythm.
  • If you use only the required brightness in the required places, you can save electricity, and it will not disturb your living rhythm.
  • For these reasons, recently in Japan, the modality of the illumination has been reconsidered.
  • For these reasons, recently in Japan, the mode of illumination has been reconsidered.
Toru
Thank you very much for the corrections and the explanations! :)
No. 3 Yukinekorin's correction
  • Japanese Prefer a Bright Light
  • Japanese Prefer a Bright Light
     Light is uncountable, so you do not need "a".
  • Thoughts and preferences seem to be different between countries.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Japanese tend to prefer a refreshing white light rather than a warm bulb light.
  • Japanese tend to prefer a refreshing white light rather than a warm bulb light.
  • In fact, fluorescent lamps are equipped in almost all Japanese households.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Therefore, rooms in Japan are very bright even at night.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • On the other hand, in Europe and the US, only required places are illuminated by incandescent light bulbs, and fluorescent lamps are not used so much.
  • On the other hand, in Europe and the US, only required places are illuminated by incandescent light bulbs, while fluorescent lamps are not used so much.
  • If you use only the required brightness in the required places, you can save on electricity, and it will not disturb our your living rhythm.
  • If you use only the required brightness in the required places, you can save on electricity, and it will not disturb the rhythm in our life.
  • For these reasons, recently in Japan, the modality of the illumination has been reconsidered.
  • For these reasons, recently in Japan, the illumination of light are being reconsidered.
     "has been reconsidered" tells us that it has already been considered, but "being reconsidered" would mean that they are still thinking about considering a change.
Great job :D

I think it depends on personal preference rather than country preference. In my house, I have bright lights in the living room and warmer light in the bedroom. However, in my grandma's house and some of my friends' houses, it isn't like that. My friends' house has warm lights throughout, while my grandma prefer bright light throughout the house. So I guess it really depends whether you prefer warmer or brighter lights.
Toru
Thank you so much for correcting my post! :)
As you say, it might depend on the person. Actually, the source of this post was a Japanese writer's opinion, so it might be biased, and I believed it. However, I will be more careful not to post wrong information from now on. By the way, I prefer warm light, because bright light make my head ache.
Yukinekorin
It's my pleasure :)
Ah I see xD I thought it was your own opinion. I prefer warm light in my room because it makes me feel relaxed. However, I prefer brighter light when I am doing work because somehow I strain my eyes more if warm light is used.
Toru
Thank you for letting me your opinion :)
Just as you thought, it seems to depend heavily on the person.
Also, I searched about these things, and found two interesting facts. One is that people who have blue eyes tend to be more sensitive to light than people who have black eyes. The other one is that the intensity of sunshine depends to a large extent on the latitude. It is said that these factors might affect the tendency of room illuminations.
Yukinekorin
Thanks for sharing! ^^
Huh, I didn't know the colour of eyes could affect a person's sensitivity to light. I think I learnt about the intensity of sunshine in class before, in a module called green building management. We learnt that the west facade of a building would usually contain lesser windows, or they would use opaque materials for the windows. This is because the sun usually shines onto the west facade, and this might either overheat the building or cause too much glare for the people working in the buildings.

By the way, I have black eyes ;)
Toru
That's interesting!
Maybe I can find ingenious contrivances related to shines in various buildings all over the world. Thank you for sharing too :)
By the way, I have dark brown eyes as with most Japanese, haha.
Yukinekorin
Ahh I see xD
Glad to learn and share knowledge with you :)
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