ILLUMINATION DEVICE

The invention provides a structurally simple illumination device capable of safely illuminating the desired area with coherent light. An illumination device () includes a laser light source () (coherent light source), a light diffuser (), and a light scanning device (). The laser light source () emits laser beam L (coherent light). The light diffuser () diffuses the laser beam L emitted from the laser light source (). The light scanning device () guides the laser beam L to one of the illumination subareas constituting part of an illumination area, thereby scanning the laser beam L radiated from the light diffuser () across the illumination area.