LEDs light up the night

The Roppongi Hills complex is awash in foot lighting generated by Blue Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) embedded into the ground. LED lights from the entrance's ceiling bathe the grounds in a blue and white light. This ambience is all made possible through the use of Matsushita Electric Works (National) "everLEDs", part of its LED series of lighting devices.

1. I would mention the location, Roppoingi Hills, even though it doesn't appear in the paragraph.
2. alsoはcomingの前へ。

For lighting, we have some nice verbs we can use. For example, "blue and white light bathe the ground from the ceiling." Or "blue and white light pour from the ceiling."

1. I would mention where the location is, namely, Roppongi Hills, since we're starting the translation from the middle of the article.
2. For lighting, we don't use the word "dripping" but we can use other water-based terms. For example, "The area was bathed in blue and white light." or "Roppongi Hills was awash in the soft, white light".
3. one of the LED illumination series

1. 本文の内容とは無関係なので無視したらどうか。ただし firefly-like なら許容程度であろう。
2. 翻訳対象の原文にはないが、Roppongi Hills という場所の情報を 入れるべき。
3. known as または called を追加。

1. We will discuss in class. But first, I would put fireflies in quotes. Also, “solid-state fireflies” sounds very ambiguous. I think I understand where you were going with it, but it would confuse most readers.
2. I'd still mention the location, Roppongi Hills, even though we didn't have to translate it. Otherwise, the first paragraph reads too vaguely. I realize this is a problem when we start in the middle of an article.
3. I believe the official way to write this product name is “everLEDs”.

○ 省エネ蛍
「蛍」は英訳しないほうがよい。Solid-State Fireflies などは人工蛍かとさえ思う。

このフレーズを用いた筆者は、明らかに蛍窓雪案を意識して発光の 費用が安いLEDと無料の蛍を結び付けている。蛍の光は体内の酵素が 酸化して発生するエネルギーが放出されるときの現象だということで、 電気代がかからない。蛍について、Georgeさんは大晦日やパチンコ屋の 閉店時に聞こえてくるスコットランド民謡に言及するのみ。確かに 人口蛍とも言えるが、話が噛み合わない。

○ 埋め込まれて
recess への設置は embed (imbed) が最適。

○ 照明
lighting
illumination には装飾のニュアンスがある（ex, night-time illumination for Xmas）。

○ 降り注ぐ
bathe, shower, cascade, shine down…
be bathed in, be awash in…

○ アクロニム
３文字以下のアクロニムについて、文法ではアルファベットをそのまま 発音するという規則がある。USA をウサという人はいない。ただし、 母音を１つだけ真ん中に挟んでいる３文字のアクロニムは、発音しやす い英単語のように読む場合がある。たとえば RAM や ROM だが、LED も 同様に扱われることがある。日本翻訳者協会の英語ネイティブ会員も、 知る限りではJAT をジャットと発音している。

When an electric current is generated, LEDs use semiconductor chips to emit light through tiny lamps measuring between only 1-5 mm in diameter. At the vanguard of development and production for this breakthrough technology are Japanese manufacturers like Nichia and Toyoda Gosei. With their longer lasting life and low power consumption, LEDs have become popular in providing back lighting for mobile phones and other devices. Now, new applications are on the horizon for LEDs, with lighting leading the charge.

・記録係のスキャナーの調子が悪かったのでなければ、最初のセンテンスは日本語読解にやや苦慮の跡。

1. backlight → backlighting
2. Nice paragraph!

1. Having the advantages

1. やや冗長である。
2. and を追加。
3. 複数形のほうがよいであろう。さらに、appliance だと 台所等の電化製品を思い浮かべてしまい、やや特定し過ぎる。

LED lighting is created by mounting a large number of LEDs onto a substrate, forming a panel lamp. Compared to standard fluorescent bulbs, LEDs consume only 1/10 the energy and have a lifespan that can last up to ten times longer. While LEDs fall short in reaching overall brightness levels of current fluorescent bulbs, lighting manufacturers are devising methods to close that gap.

1. drawback ← Good word choice!
2. a better design → better designs

1. less than
2. more than ten times longer

1. a を追加。
2. LEDs are
3. to を追加。
4. fluorescent lamps
5. the を削除。
6. emitting efficiency は一般記事用としてはやや technical 過ぎる。

1. a を削除。
2. being compared
3. Curious as to why you chose this word. Did you mean "configurations"?
   No, I did mean "units".

○ 複数の（LED）
a number of は、ふつう 5 ～ 10。

○ 基板
substrate は一般的な用語ではない。panel (paneling) が平たく薄いものの平易な表現。

Although LEDs are primarily being used for interior design, the day when LEDs replace fluorescent bulbs may soon be fact rather than fiction, provided brightness improves and prices continue to drop. "Two or three years ago, I would have said it would take 20 to 30 years for the LED market to really take off. But now with the advances made, I think we've compressed that time frame down to 5 to 10 years", says Mr. Shuji Nakamura, a materials professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara and responsible for creating the first blue, green, ultraviolet and white-light LEDs. The Japan Research and Development Center for Metals estimates that if Japan switches over to LEDs for all of its lighting needs, an energy savings equivalent to the power of 11 medium-sized nuclear power plants could be attained.

1. ornamental lighting
   Very clever way to approach for 「インテリア的」
2. An estimation made by
   I think it sounds better if we change to the active tense. “The Japan Research and Development Center for Metals estimates that….”
3. Quite wordy. “power equivalent to” is a much tighter, smoother expression.

1. lamps will replace
2. Although not in the Japanese, it may not be a bad idea to give just a little more background on Professor Nakamura. That way, the reader is aware that Professor Nakamura is very qualified to be speaking on the subject of LEDs.
3. I would change the wording here just a little. ”…seemed to be 20 to 30 years away, but…” The way it is written sounds as if full-scale market introduction has already happened.
4. but now it seems
5. 'Domestic lighting fixtures' sounds like lights and lamps for your home. Instead of 'domestic' let's use 'Japan' for 国内, so there won't be any confusion. Also 'lighting fixtures' might be too limiting and narrow of a term here. We need a broader expression that will cover 国内照明.
6. as generated by 11 middle-size…

1. more を greater に変更。
2. as を at に変更。
3. 中村教授の言葉の引用に重みを与えるために、中村教授が 青色LED等の発明者であり、第一人者であることを付記するとよいで あろう。

1. Major league vocab! I like it!
2. medium-sized

○ 屋内ではインテリア的な利用
a number of は、ふつう 5 ～ 10。

○ 発光効率
対象読者が専門家でなければ luminous efficacy は brightness でよい。
原文では「明るさ」でなく「発光効率」となっており、単に「照度」 ではなく「効率」の話をしている。もちろん研究者などに向けた文章 ではないが…。 「発光効率」と表意文字で書けば専門家でなくてもたいてい理解するが、 luminous efficacy と表音文字で書いた言葉の意味を知っている人は 多くないということか。

○ 中村修二
「教授」だけでなく、もっと credential を説明したほうがよい。