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Food & Beverage > Southeast Asian Food
Asia > Japan > Kinki Region > Shiga Prefecture > Kusatsu
Food & Beverage > Southeast Asian Food
Asia > Japan > Kinki Region > Shiga Prefecture > Otsu
Food & Beverage > Southeast Asian Food
Asia > Japan > Kinki Region > Shiga Prefecture > Kusatsu
Accommodation > Business Hotel
Asia > Japan > Kinki Region > Shiga Prefecture > Otsu
Introduction
Shiga Prefecture (滋賀県, Shiga-ken) is a prefecture of Japan, which forms part of the Kansai region in the western part of Honshu island. Its capital is Ōtsu.
History
Shiga was known as Ōmi Province or Gōshū before the prefectural system was established. Omi was a neighbor of Nara and Kyoto, at the junction of western and eastern Japan. During the period 667 to 672, Emperor Tenji founded a palace in Otsu. In 742, Emperor Shōmu founded a palace in Shigaraki. In the early Heian Period, Saichō was born in the north of Otsu and founded Enryaku-ji, the center of Tendai and one a UNESCO World Heritage Site and monument of Ancient Kyoto now.
In the Medieval Period, the Sasaki clan ruled Omi, and afterward the Rokkaku clan, Kyōgoku clan and Azai clans ruled Omi. In the 1570s, Oda Nobunaga subjugated Omi and built Azuchi Castle on the eastern shores of Lake Biwa in 1579. Tōdō Takatora, Gamō Ujisato, Oichi, Yodo-dono, Ohatsu and Oeyo were Omi notables in the Sengoku Period. In those times, Ninja was active in Kōka (See also Kōga-ryū).
In 1600, Ishida Mitsunari, born in the east of Nagahama and based in Sawayama Castle, made war against Tokugawa Ieyasu in Sekigahara, Gifu. After the battle, Ieyasu made Ii Naomasa a new lord of Sawayama. Naomasa established the Hikone Domain, later famous for Ii Naosuke. Ii Naosuke became the Tokugawa shogunate's Tairō and concluded commercial treaties with the Western powers and thus ended Japan's isolation from the world in the 19th century. Besides the Hikone Domain, many domains ruled Omi such as Zeze.
With the abolition of the han system, eight prefectures were formed in Omi. They were unified into Shiga Prefecture in September 1872. "Shiga Prefecture" was named after "Shiga District" because Otsu belonged to the district until 1898. From August 1876 to February 1881, southern Fukui Prefecture had been incorporated into Shiga Prefecture.
Culture
Biwa Town (now a part of Nagahama) is a home of The Tonda Traditional Bunraku Puppet Troupe. Founded in the 1830s, the group is one of the most active traditional Bunraku puppet theaters in Japan outside the National Theater in Osaka. Toyosato and Higashiomi are known to a mecca of Goshu ondo.
Museums include the Sagawa Art Museum in Moriyama, the Lake Biwa Museum in Kusatsu and the Miho Museum in Kōka. In Kōka, a ninja house is preserved as a visitor center.
Cuisine
Since ancient times, Shigans have eaten fish from Lake Biwa. The most famous lake-food is fermented sushi of crucian carp (鮒寿司, funa-zushi). It retains the ancient style of sushi and has a pungent odor. Shiga is also famous for high quality wagyū, Omi beef. The Hikone Domain presented beef as medicinal food to shoguns. In addition, tsukemono of root crops, mallard nabe or mallard sukiyaki (鴨鍋 or 鴨すき, kamo-nabe or kamo-suki) in northern Shiga, red colored konjac (赤こんにゃく, aka konnyaku) in Omihachiman, sōmen with grilled mackerel (焼鯖素麺, yaki-saba sōmen) in Nagahama, and lightly seasoned champon in Hikone are examples of specific cuisine in Shiga.
Mass media
Biwako Broadcasting broadcasts local TV programs. NHK has a broadcasting station in Otsu. Shiga is the only prefecture which has no regional newspapers. Kyoto Shimbun is a de facto regional newspaper of Shiga.
Education
Ten universities, two junior colleges, and a learning center of The Open University of Japan operate in Shiga.
- Shiga University (Hikone and Otsu)
- Shiga University of Medical Science (Otsu)
- University of Shiga Prefecture (Hikone)
- Seian University of Art and Design (Otsu)
- Seisen University (Hikone)
- Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology (Nagahama)
- Biwako-Gakuin University (Higashiomi)
- Biwako Seikei Sport College (Otsu)
- Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto and Kusatsu)
- Ryukoku University (Kyoto and Otsu)
- Shiga Junior College (Otsu)
- Shiga Bunkyo Junior College (Nagahama)
Sports
The following sports teams are based in Shiga.
- Basketball: Shiga LakeStars
- Volleyball: Toray Arrows (women's volleyball team) (Otsu)
- Football (soccer): MIO Biwako Kusatsu (Kusatsu), Sagawa Shiga F.C. (Moriyama).
Geography
Shiga borders Fukui Prefecture in the north, Gifu Prefecture in the east, Mie Prefecture in the southeast, and Kyoto Prefecture in the west.
Lake Biwa, Japan's largest, is located at the center of this prefecture. It occupies one-sixth of its area. The Seta River flows from Lake Biwa to Osaka Bay through Kyoto. This is the only natural river that flows out from the lake. Most other natural rivers flow into the lake. There were many lagoons around Lake Biwa, but most of them were reclaimed in 1940s. One of the preserved lagoons is the wetland (水郷, suigō) in Omihachiman, and it was selected as the first Important Cultural Landscapes in 2006.
The lake divides the prefecture into four different areas: Kohoku (湖北, north of lake) centered Nagahama, Kosei (湖西, west of lake) centered Imazu, Kotō (湖東, east of lake) centered Hikone and Konan (湖南, south of lake) centered Otsu.
Plains stretch to the eastern coast of Lake Biwa. The prefecture is enclosed by mountain ranges with the Hira Mountains and Mount Hiei in the west, the Ibuki Mountains in the northeast, and the Suzuka Mountains in the southeast. Mount Ibuki is the highest mountain in Shiga. In Yogo, a small lake is famous for the legend of the heavenly robe of an angel (天女の羽衣, tennyo no hagoromo), which is similar to a western Swan maiden.
Shiga's climate sharply varies between north and south. Southern Shiga is usually warm, but northern Shiga is typically cold with high snowfall and hosts many skiing grounds. In Nakanokawachi, the northernmost village of Shiga, snow reached a depth of 5.6 metres (18 ft) in 1936.
As of 31 March 2008, 37% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks (the highest total of any prefecture), namely the Biwako and Suzuka Quasi-National Parks; and Kotō, Kutsuki-Katsuragawa, and Mikami-Tanakami-Shigaraki Prefectural Natural Parks.
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