Comfort in Dim Light

Many modern Japanese homes are blindingly bright, with fluorescent ceiling lights that allow you to read a newspaper anywhere in the room. Fluorescent lights replicate daylight. There's no emotion in them. But what about our natural physiology? People who lived in rhythm with nature would have woken with the sunrise and, as dusk fell, spent their time slowly by the light of flames before drifting off to sleep.

Where Natural Materials Meet Modern Design

The lighting in the photo above is a work by an artist named Tadayoshi Kawamura. I encountered it by chance at a gallery where I was looking at furniture over a decade ago and fell in love with it at first sight, purchasing it immediately. His works all feature plants such as Chinese lanterns, susuki grass, and wheat, used like lampshades. The combination of the simple beauty of natural materials and modern design is nothing short of masterful. His creations also evoke a sense of nostalgia that makes me grateful to have been born Japanese. It's a good design, with a gentleness that puts the viewer at ease.

It's the long autumn nights. You could listen to the chirping of insects, admire the moon, get lost in a book, or of course, enjoy a drink... Why not spend this autumn savoring the soft glow of gentle light?