History
Shiga sits just east of Kyoto, close enough that it’s long served as a transit corridor for travelers and trade heading in and out of the old capital — the historic Tokaido and Nakasendo routes both ran through or near the prefecture, and the “Omi shonin” merchant class that grew up along them became famous for a business philosophy still cited in Japan today: that a good deal should benefit the seller, the buyer, and society at large.
Shiga and the wider world
Shiga’s most consequential single encounter with the outside world came in 1891, in an incident that had nothing to do with trade. Nicholas Alexandrovich, the Tsarevich of Russia (and future Tsar Nicholas II), was touring Japan when a Japanese police officer assigned to guard him attacked him with a sword in the city of Otsu, wounding him in the head. The attack — feared at the time to risk provoking war with Russia — sent the Meiji government into crisis; the emperor personally visited the recovering Tsarevich, and enormous political pressure was applied to have the attacker executed. Instead, the presiding judge, Kojima Iken, ruled that ordinary criminal law (which did not prescribe death for attacks on foreign dignitaries) had to apply regardless of the political stakes, sentencing the man to life imprisonment. The “Otsu Incident,” as it’s still known, is widely taught in Japan today as an early landmark for judicial independence from political interference.
Neighbors: Shiga and the rest of Kansai
Shiga borders Kyoto directly and has long functioned as its practical gateway to the rest of Japan, with Lake Biwa itself serving historically as a major inland shipping route connecting Kyoto’s hinterland to routes further east.
Getting there and getting around
Otsu and Hikone are both reachable from Kyoto by regular train in under an hour; Maibara, in Shiga, is a Tokaido Shinkansen stop. Lake Biwa’s shoreline is well served by local rail on both its east and west sides.
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