LED fireflies

Long celebrated in Haiku and other verses – The Tokyo Hotaru Festival is a modern twist on the age-old Japanese love of watching fireflies along waterways. So this year, when 100,000 blue LED light bulbs floated down the Sumida River in imitation of the fireflies, it was a spectacle that left everyone in awe.

Provided by Panasonic and measuring just over 3 inches, this special kind of orb called, Inoriboshi (or prayer star) was made using the company’s HIT photovoltaic cells, a rechargeable battery, and a LED chip. A senor at the bottom of the LED bulb triggers the orb to light up when placed in the water and just to assuage any environmental concerns, all the orbs were reclaimed in nets downstream so that they could be re-used.

The display was part of an art installation named, Hikari Symphony, which means symphony of light._

By: Tanvi Chug
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