Visible light communication (VLC) evolved from early Japanese studies showing that white LEDs can provide both illumination and data transmission, and has grown into a broader “VLC family” spanning optical wireless communication (OWC), optical camera/image sensor communication (OCC/ISC), display/screen-camera communication (DCC/SCC), and underwater OWC (UOWC). In parallel, LiFi reframed VLC from point-to-point links to networked optical wireless systems. This paper reviews research trends in Japan across these domains. We first adopt a transmitter-centric perspective, from camera-compatible, high-speed architectures to multi-functional co-designs and dynamic, machine-learning-integrated transmitters. We then take a reception-centric view of OCC/ISC — including rolling-shutter camera reception and DCC/SCC — followed by an overview of UOWC as an emerging application domain.
