This year’s Lighting Japan, which is held in Tokyo Big Sight in Japan, continued to feature Asian LED technologies, material, equipment and lighting developments that the global industry has been closely following. The exhibition also featured next generation lighting designs including LED and OLED light sources. Some of the advanced application concepts were showcased in better exhibition locations.

Tokyo Big Sight where Lighting Japan 2015 is held. (LEDinside)

The show this year attracted 380 manufacturers and about 16,000 visitors. Aside from Japanese manufacturers targeting overseas market, there were also more Korean, Chinese, and Taiwanese manufacturers displaying LED components, package and end products to attract Japanese and international buyers. There was most significant growth in the number of Chinese manufacturers at this year’s show and their booth sizes.

Lighting Japan 2015 show grounds.(LEDinside)

Market demands remain high for high power luminaires

From a technology perspective, Japanese LED lighting manufacturers are focused on high power LED bay lights, billboard lights, and four meter LED tubes. The long tube lights are replacements for fluorescent luminaires and have good quality and pricing. There are also strong demands for high power LED luminaires, which are capable of assisting commercial applications in saving long term costs.

Top: Specially designed LED luminaires. Bottom: High power LED spotlights.(LEDinside)

Another observation has been the emergence of better quality LED components, and materials including new thermal conductive adhesives, high thermal conductivity resins and good quality optic lenses. All these products are aimed to solve optical diffusion and light distribution issues. Most of these products are also targeting precision processing and LED components for small devices.

At the 7^th Edition LED/ OLED Lighting Technology Expo zone, there were a large number of LED drivers, and testing equipment. Among the overwhelming numbers of Japanese testing and measurement equipment manufacturers, a few Taiwanese manufacturers displayed mid-sized, or palm-sized testing and measurement equipment. Japanese manufacturers on the other hand mainly displayed large fully automated test equipment.

Japanese LED lighting manufacturer Iris Oyama’s booth was the most interesting in the 5^th Edition LED/OLED Lighting Expo area. The company has taken full advantage of different manufacturers good quality LED chips to produce a comprehensive product portfolio that balances product quality and prices.

Top: High bay lights. Bottom: LED high bay lights and 4-meter LED tube lights. (LEDinside)

In this specific show area, many Japanese manufacturers were focused on high power LED high bay lights, which utilized solutions including COB package or multiple LEDs. By using good optical designs, the products were able to achieve high powers, and high luminous efficacy, while its light shape can meet market demands and designs. This is mainly due to Japan’s lighting market’s high demands for high bay lights in public spaces, factories or retail sector. The volume of high bay light purchases has continued to grow, and through these years Japanese manufacturers have found suitable production models, such as in-house manufacturing or cooperating with Chinese or Taiwanese vendors.

LED spotlights for advertisement applications and architectural lighting. (LEDinside)

LED spotlights for advertisement applications were also highly visible in the expo area, and there was also high market demands for architectural spotlights.

Smart lighting remains a relatively cool sector

More mature smart lighting solutions have been launched on the market in recent years, but costs and lack of market acceptance have kept the products from reaching a tipping point. Many manufacturers showed smart lighting capacity at this year’s lighting show, but the solutions were less visible compared to other highlighted LED luminaires.

Special smart lighting showcased at the show included lighting systems that could detect the presence of a person in an environment, and automatically switch on or off. The concept has been discussed on the market for a while, but no standardized lighting products have emerged yet. At this year’s show, Japanese manufacturers have continued to develop lighting for bathroom applications that could detect the presence of people, play music or flush the toilet.

Bluetooth LED lighting applications have also increased, and depending on the demand are controllable via smartphones, tablets or computer devices. Although, Bluetooth cannot control multiple devices in the same way as Wifi, it consumes less energy and is highly promoted by certain manufacturers.

Smart lighting applications. On the left a smart high bay LED light that dims according to the detected weather conditions. (LEDinside)

Market optimistic about UV lighting and related components

Another LED technology focus at this year’s show is Japanese manufacturer Nitride Semiconductors high power UV LED products, which can be applied in printers, resin curing, and photocatalysis. The company’s high power UV products have the highest performance in the industry, especially its featured UV-LED 6SVG series products.

The market demand in the UV LED sector is very diverse, said a representative for Nitride Semiconductors. Aside from UV LED applications, white LED products developed using UV LEDs with phosphor powder will also be commercialized. The concept is similar to white light created in fluorescent lamps, which is generated from the stimulation of fluorescent powder with UV lights.

Emergency LED luminaires target Japanese government sector

At the show, manufacturers have also released LED tubes with in-built lithium batteries, that can continue to operate for eight to 10 hours. Emergency lighting is a necessity for government and public buildings in the earthquake prone Japanese market, thus there has been high level adoption of the lights. Hospitals and government organizations are some of the public infrastructures that have adopted the LED tube lights.

A moth repellent LED luminaire displayed at Lighting Japan 2015. (LEDinside)

Insect repellent luminaires

Japanese manufacturers have also launched insect repellent LED bulbs. The specific wavelength emitted by the bulbs can drive insects away from crops.

(Author: Ivan Lin, Editor-in-Chief, LEDinsidehttp://Translator: Judy Lin, Chief Editor, LEDinside)