To fasten the starting of a luminous flux with high efficiency, long life and excellent starting characteristics at a low temperature and to incorporate deodorizing function of long life by attempting to increase the storage space in a refrigerator.

The illuminator for a refrigerator comprises a bulb with a three band fluorescent layer overlying the inner surface, discharging medium containing rare gas containing xenon as a main body and sealed in the bulb, a fluorescent lamp 17 having a pair of electrodes for generating discharge in the bulb and disposed in a refrigerator body 12, and a light guiding plate 16 having a light emitting surface 15 receiving the light from the lamp 17 from the side end to emit a light in a surface state and opposed in the body 12.