To keep a stairway bright around the feet and hands of a person for some time after a light source is turned off and to allow the person to evacuate or transit by applying a luminous paint to the whole or part of the stairway and handrails attached to it.

A luminous paint is applied to the whole of a stairway 1 or to part of it such as risers 3 and treads 2 or handrails 4, if attached. The luminous paint aids an emergency lamp in an emergency when a light source is lost at the time of a disaster, the whole stairway is kept bright even when the emergency lamp does not exist or is not lighted, and a passage can be kept somewhat bright to an outlet for a safe escape. The luminous paint is merely applied to the stairway 1, no maintenance cost is particularly required, and this method can be easily introduced for not only a building and the stairway but also a general home at a far less cost than the installation, maintenance and control cost of the emergency power source.