Coor din ates: 3 5 °7 ′N 1 3 6 °4 ′E Shiga Prefecture 滋賀県 Shiga Prefecture ( Shiga-ken) is a prefecture of Shiga Prefecture Japan, which forms part of the Kansai region in the 滋賀県 western part of Honshu island.[1] It encircles Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in Japan. The capital is Prefecture [2] Ōtsu. Japanese transcription(s) • Japanese 滋賀県 • Rōmaji Shiga-ken Contents History Geography Symbol Municipalities Flag Cities Towns Mergers Politics Economy Demographics Culture Cuisine Mass media Education Sports Tourism Transportation Railways Roads Country Japan Boats Region Kansai Notable people from Shiga Prefecture Island Honshu Sister states Capital Ōtsu Notes Government References • Governor Taizō Mikazuki External links Area • Total 4,017.38 km2 History (1,551.12 sq mi) Area rank 38th Shiga was known as Ōmi Province or Gōshū before Population (October 1, 2015) [3] the prefectural system was established. Omi was a • Total 1,412,916 neighbor of Nara and Kyoto, at the junction of western • Rank 26th and eastern Japan. During the period 667 to 67 2, • Density 350/km2 (910/sq mi) Emperor Tenji founded a palace in Otsu. In 7 42, ISO 3166 JP-25 Emperor Shōmu founded a palace in Shigaraki. In the code early Heian period, Saichō was born in the north of Otsu Districts 3 and founded Enryaku-ji, the center of Tendai and one a Municipalities 19 UNESCO World Heritage Site and monument of Ancient Flower Rhododendron Kyoto now. (Rhododendron metternichii var. hondoense) In the Medieval Period, the Sasaki clan ruled Omi, and Tree Japanese maple (Acer afterward the Rokkaku clan, Kyōgoku clan and Azai palmatum) clans ruled Omi. In the 157 0s, Oda Nobunaga Bird Little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) subjugated Omi and built Azuchi Castle on the eastern shores of Lake Biwa in 157 9. Tōdō Takatora, Gamō Website www.pref.shiga.lg.jp /multilingual/english/index Ujisato, Oichi, Y odo-dono, Ohatsu and Oeyo were Omi .html (http://www.pref.shig notables in the Sengoku period. In those times, Ninja a.lg.jp/multilingual/english/i were active in Kōka (See also Kōga-ryū). ndex.html) 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 187 2. "Shiga Prefecture" was named after "Shiga District" because Otsu belonged to the district until 1898. From August 187 6 to February 1881, southern Fukui Prefecture had been incorporated into Shiga Prefecture. In 2015, Shiga Governor Taizō Mikazuki conducted a survey asking citizens whether they felt it necessary to change the name of the prefecture, partly to raise its profile as a destination for domestic tourism.[4] 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 Biwa in Shiga Prefecture viewed lake) centered Imazu, Kotō (湖東, east of lake) centered Hikone from space and Konan (湖南, south of lake) centered Otsu. Plains stretch to the eastern shore 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 Y ogo, 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.[5] 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.[6] As of 1 April 2014, 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.[7] Municipalities Cities Thirteen cities are located in Shiga Prefecture: Map of Shiga Prefecture City Town Hikone Nagahama Higashiōmi Kusatsu Nagahama Rittō Hikone Maibara Ōtsu (capital) Takashima Kōka Moriyama Ōmihachiman Yasu Konan Towns These are the towns in each district: Echi District Inukami District Aishō Kōra Gamō District Taga Toyosato Hino Ryūō Mergers Politics The current governor of Shiga is Taizō Mikazuki, a former member of the House of Representatives from Shiga (DPJ, 3rd district), who was elected in July 2014 to succeed governor Y ukiko Kada.[8] The prefectural assembly has 47 members from 16 electoral districts, and is still elected in unified local elections (last round: 2011). As of July 2014, the assembly was composed as follows: LDP 21 members, DPJ/kenmin network 12, Taiwa no kai/Shiga net 5, LDP sasshin no kai 5, Kōmeitō 2, Y our Party 1, The prefectural government building independent 1.[9] in Ōtsu City In the National Diet, Shiga is represented by four directly elected members of the House of Representatives and two (one per ordinary election) of the House of Councillors. For the proportional representation segment of the lower house, the prefecture forms part of the Kinki block. After the most recent national elections of 2010, 2012 and 2013, the directly elected delegation to the Diet from Shiga consists of: in the House of Representatives for the 1st district in the west: Toshitaka Ōoka, LDP, 1st term, for the 2nd district in the northeast: Ken'ichirō Ueno, LDP, 2nd term, for the 3rd district on the southern shores of Lake Biwa: Nobuhide Takemura, LDP, 1st term, for the 4th district in the southeast: Takaya Mutō, LDP, 1st term, in the House of Councillors (Shiga At-large district) in the class of 2010 (term ends 2016): Kumiko Hayashi, DPJ, 2nd term, in the class of 2013 (term ends 2019): Takeshi Ninoyu, LDP, 1st term. Economy Cultivated areas occupy nearly one-sixth of the prefecture. Rice is the principal crop: over 90 percent of the farmlands are rice fields. Most farms are small, producing only a slight income. Most farmers depend on income from other sources. Eastern Shiga is famous for cattle breeding and southeastern Shiga is famous for green tea. On Lake Biwa, some people are engaged in fishery and freshwater pearl farming. Since the Medieval Period, especially in Edo period, many Shiga Merchant mansions in Omihachiman people were active in commerce and were called Ōmi merchants (近江商人 Ōmi shōnin, Ōmi akindo), sometimes Ōmi thieves (近江 泥 棒 Ōmi dorobō) by other envious merchants. For example, Nippon Life, Itochu, Marubeni, Takashimaya, Wacoal and Y anmar were founded by people from Shiga. In their home towns such as Omihachiman, Hino, Gokashō and Toyosato, their mansions were preserved as tourist attractions. Beginning in the 1960s, Shiga developed industry, supporting major factories owned by companies such as IBM Japan, Canon, Y anmar Diesel, Mitsubishi, and Toray. According to Cabinet Office's statistics in 2014, the Manufacturing sector accounted for 35.4% of Gross Shiga Product, the highest proportion in Japan.[10] Traditional industries include textiles, Shigaraki ware, Butsudan in Hikone and Nagahama, medicines in Koka, and fan ribs in Adogawa. Demographics The population is concentrated along the southern shore of Lake Biwa in Otsu city (adjacent to Kyoto) and along the lake's eastern Historical population shore in cities such as Kusatsu and Moriyama, which are within Year Pop. ±% commuting distance to Kyoto. The lake's western and northern 1920 651,050 — 1930 691,631 +6.2% shores are more rural and resort-oriented with white sand 1940 703,679 +1.7% beaches. In recent years, many Brazilians settled in Shiga to work 1950 861,180 +22.4% in nearby factories. 25,040 foreigners live in Shiga and 30% of 1960 842,695 −2.1% foreigners were Brazilians as of December 2016.[11] 1970 889,768 +5.6% 1980 1,079,898 +21.4% 1990 1,222,411 +13.2% Culture 2000 1,342,832 +9.9% Biwa Town (now a part of Nagahama) is a home of The Tonda 2010 1,410,777 +5.1% 2015 1,412,916 +0.2% Traditional Bunraku Puppet Troupe. Founded in the 1830s, the Source: [1] (http://www.pref.shiga.lg.jp/d group is one of the most active traditional Bunraku puppet ata/population/renew/index.html#nenp) 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.