Patent ID: 7234823

Claim:
An illumination apparatus illuminating an objective illumination region, comprising: a plurality of illuminants having light-emitting surfaces radiating diffused light, and arranged on a circumference of a circle; a first light guiding portion configured to guide the diffused light; a second light guiding portion configured to further guide the diffused light that has been guided by the first light guiding portion; and a rotating drive portion configured to rotate the first light guiding portion around a rotation axis passing through a center of the circle, wherein the first light guiding portion comprises: a first incident end surface which is configured to be rotated along the circumference by the rotating drive portion and on which the diffused light radiated from an at least one of the light-emitting surfaces opposing to the first incident end surface is successively made incident by the rotation; a first reflecting surface configured to change the direction in which the diffused light incident from the first incident end surface is guided; and a first outgoing end surface configured to output the diffused light reflected by the first reflecting surface along the rotation axis; the second light guiding portion is fixed so as not to move relative to the plurality of illuminants and comprises: a second incident end surface which is configured to be opposed to the first outgoing end surface and on which the diffused light output from the first outgoing end surface is made incident; and a second outgoing end surface configured to output the diffused light incident from the second incident end surface toward the objective illumination region.