About shiga-ken.com

Welcome to shiga-ken.com, a Web site introducing Shiga Prefecture, Japan with photos, videos, news, and informative articles, all in English. “Shiga-ken” means Shiga Prefecture in Japanese.

It is an attempt to rectify the lack of information about Shiga in English for foreign tourists and residents. In my online gallery, you can find thousands of pictures of all the cities and towns in Shiga taken by me. Local festivals (matsuri), major sights such as National Treasure temples and shrines, beautiful nature (Lake Biwa, flowers, four seasons, etc.), as well as ordinary, everyday things. Also news about Shiga and the basic things you should know about Shiga, including local history, public transportation, and more. It is an ongoing project.

shiga-ken.com‘s top page is an index page to all of my Shiga-related Web pages as well as a portal to key Web sites related to Shiga. Most of the content is presented under my sister Web site called PHOTOGUIDE.JP which also covers other places in Japan. Besides the shiga-ken home page, there are four main gateways to the content of shiga-ken.com:

1. Shiga News is a blog featuring news about Shiga gleaned from local Japanese sources. I also post site updates (What’s New) for shiga-ken.com.

2. Shiga Photos is a large collection of photos of all of Shiga’s cities and towns. Several thousand images are organized in coherent photo sets (albums) to show you what a festival or place looks like. They are part of my collection of over 36,000 images of Japan displayed online at PHOTOGUIDE.JP.

3. Shiga Articles is an index to all my articles about Shiga. All the cities and towns in Shiga are covered.

4. Shiga Video Playlist is my collection of video clips of Shiga that I shot myself.

About Me

I’m a Japanese-American born and raised in Hawaii with both parents from Shiga Prefecture. I’ve been living in Japan for a good number of years. (Don’t ask how many.) I’m quite fluent in Japanese: speaking, reading, and writing (with a computer). I read Japanese newspapers with ease, although not as good as a native Japanese (since I’m not a native Japanese). But good enough to be a professional Japanese-to-English translator. I’m a semi-professional photographer and also shoot videos. I also like to write, and have written for magazines.

Although I live and work in Tokyo, I often visit my parents’ home in northern Shiga, spending some weeks in Shiga each year. Each time, I go out and see a place or festival I’ve never seen before in Shiga and neighboring prefectures. I’m especially interested in traditional Japanese things such as National Treasures (temples, shrines, etc.), festivals, flowers, beautiful nature, scenery, and seasonal things. I shoot hundreds or thousands of pictures and video clips each time and put the best shots on my Web site here. I’m currently working on a series of books in English about Shiga, to be self-published in the near future.

Enjoy and visit Shiga!

Philbert Ono
Contact me

(More about me here)

P.S. This blog has rotating banner images of Shiga. Each time you visit a page in Shiga News, the banner image changes. Also, the photo above is a statue of a Shigaraki tanuki (racoon dog) in Koka. Associated with prosperity and good business, a tanuki statue is a common site at shop entrances to welcome customers.

–Disclaimer–

Although utmost efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in shiga-ken.com and photoguide.jp, all information is presented on an “as is” basis. Use the information only at your own risk. The author and our Internet Web presence provider shall not be liable to any person or entity with respect to any liability, loss, damage, accident, or inconvenience caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by any of the information contained in shiga-ken.com and photoguide.jp.

The mention of companies, service providers, and other vendors in shiga-ken.com and photoguide.jp is for informational purposes only and does not constitute any endorsement.

· Copyright Notice
Unless stated otherwise, all text, graphics, and photographs are Copyright (c) 2004-2011 by Philbert Ono. All rights reserved.