To provide a lighting unit which: does not greatly affect the design of a light guide plate; and has a long lifetime, high efficiency, and a wide color reproduction range by means of a phosphor. In view of the foregoing, the lighting unit of the present invention is constituted in such a manner that a phosphor bead or a phosphor film is arranged on at least one of the light irradiation plane of a light guide plate, the rear surface of the light guide plate, and the light incidence plane of the light guide plate. In addition, a phosphor film is constituted by using: a phosphor bead formed of a phosphor particle and a water-impervious material with which the phosphor particle is coated so that the particle is confined in the material; and a polymer film holding the phosphor bead.