What does あえて mean? - Japanese Language Stack Exchange So あえて 電気をつけるほどの暗さではない is more natural for わざわざ 電気をつけるほどの暗さではない If you're using あえて , the situation could be a cave or something, and you might be risking your life in some way because of the brightness (e g , being attacked by a monster that found the lights)