To provide an illumination system wherein a light source is arranged greatly apart from a hollow light guide.

A light source 18 does not need to be suspended along a hollow light guide 12. Instead, the light source 18 emits light into an optical fiber 16 and then, the light is converged in the hollow light guide 12 by a light guiding element. A structure according to this invention can lighten overhead installation, can keep the hollow light guide 12 at low temperatures throughout its total length, and is accordingly advantageous in that overhead electrical accidents are eliminated, RFI or EMI caused by overhead electric wiring is also eliminated, and its maintenance can easily be performed from the height of a floor. The light source 18 can withstand shock and vibration by virtue of the illumination system.