The first electric light used for illumination purposes in Japan was lit on March 25, 1878. It was a Duboscq arc lamp, switched on at a banquet held in cerebration of the opening of the central office of Tokyo Central Telegraph Station (Now, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications).

The engineers of this event were Professor W.E.Aryton of Imperial College of Engineering (Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo University), and his colleague Mr.Ichisuke Fujioka who would later go on found Hakunetu-Sha & Co.Ltd.

The very first lighting of an incandescent light took place on June 25, 1884 at the commencement ceremony of the railroad line running from Ueno to Takasaki. P

rofessor Ichisuke Fujioka is the person credited for the development of the incandescent bulb in Japan. In order to develop an incandescent bulb demestically, he was appointed Chief Engineer at Tokyo Electric Illumination Company (Now, Tokyo Electric Power Company ). On April 1, 1890, Professor Fujioka in cooperation with Masakazu Miyoshi, one of the most successful electric appliance manufacturers at that time, established Hakunetu-Sha & Co.Ltd. in Tokyo.

The result of this merger was the official production of incandescent bulbs in Japan. Hakunetu-Sha is now called TOSHIBA LIGHTING & TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION which today is a leader in lighting technology.