This is what the neighborhood looks like somewhere around 1AM on a weeknight, under a full moon.
I've said it before, darkness in Japan is not the same as it is in America. It's darker. And it's just the way things are, either out of energy policy or neighborhood zoning or whatever. neither better nor worse, just different. Darker.
There are fewer street lights. They burn at lower intensity. Fluorescent bulbs flicker at a different rate and their white balance, like a number of other bulbs, isn't the same either. You can easily see the colors being thrown from them at a high shutter speed - two shots side by side will have entirely different color casts to them. At first I thought this was camera error. But no, it was just me not knowing what was happing.
Darkness doesn't seem like a problem that needs to be fixed. Thigns are fine without lights covering every step of a sidewalk. A dark alley in Yonago doesn't induce a flight response like it would in NYC, especially when you're not looking over your shoulder and anticipating being mugged.
What really inspires appreciation for the darkness is the brilliance of the full moon. I just didn't know how bright it could be.
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And I got my 24-70 and SB800 back from Nikon today. It'll just have to wait in the box until I can afford to fix it.