Regions & prefectures
JapanRegions & prefectures
Shiga
A sixth of the prefecture is a lake, and that lake is the oldest in Japan.
- Capital
- Ōtsu
- Status
- Prefecture
- Region
- Kansai
- Must-see
- Hikone castle
- Local specialty
- Ōmi beef, funazushi
Lake Biwa, four million years old, fills the centre of Shiga and provides drinking water to fifteen million people in the Kansai. The lakeside roads served as the strategic corridor between Kyoto and the east: Oda Nobunaga built Azuchi here, and Hikone keeps one of the twelve original castle keeps. Mount Hiei to the southwest carries Enryaku-ji, seat of the Tendai school that Nobunaga burned in 1571.
What to see there
Places, dishes and traditions tied to this territory.
In the magazine
Articles that cover this topic.