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Kusatsu

Kusatsu Shukuba Matsuri canceled

Apr 2nd, 2011
by philbert.
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The Kusatsu Shukuba Matsuri Festival is canceled for 2011.

Many festivals (matsuri) in Japan are being canceled or scaled back in consideration of the Tohoku disaster. It’s unfortunate since spring is prime time for festivals.

The Kusatsu Shukuba Matsuri festival scheduled for April 23-24, 2011 has been canceled. It’s too bad since it’s a nice festival highlighted by a parade of women in kimono and men in samurai costume.

I hope cancellation of matsuri will be minimal. Of course, we all feel sad about what happened in Tohoku, but cancelling these events where we can get together and relieve stress makes it more demoralizing and somber. Look at the TV stations, they continue to broadcast comedy shows.

Omi-Hachiman’s Sagicho Matsuri was held as scheduled in March even after the Tohoku disaster, albeit with less revelry. For those who had worked meticulously for months on their sagicho floats, cancelling the festival would make it a great waste.

Kusatsu Shukuba Matsuri official Web site here.

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Google Maps street views of Shiga

Mar 20th, 2010
by philbert.
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Google Map street view of Shirahige Shrine

Google Map street view of Shirahige Shrine

Google Maps now show street views of Shiga Prefecture.

On March 11, 2010, Google has started to post photos of the streets of Shiga, mainly in Otsu, Kusatsu, and the road going around Lake Biwa. No doubt, they will keep posting street views of more roads in Shiga as they become available.

Street views are panoramic photos stitched together, showing the streets and scenery along the road. It is very convenient for people looking for a place or directions to somewhere. It’s a great reference for bicyclists wanting to cycle around Lake Biwa too. You can see the terrain and road conditions before you leave.

Just go to Google Maps and drag the standing man icon to a street highlighted in blue. You can then navigate around by clicking on directional arrows in the street view or by moving the standing man icon around on the map.

Note that the current street view images of Shiga were shot two years ago. Some scenery (buildings, etc.) might be out of date.

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Breaking news: Swine flu hits Shiga, schools closed

May 20th, 2009
by philbert.
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On the morning of May 20, 2009, Shiga’s first case of swine flu has been confirmed. A 23-year-old male student at the Biwako-Kusatsu campus of Ritsumeikan University has been confirmed as the first patient. His symptoms are not serious and will be hospitalized. None of the swine flu cases in Japan have proved to be fatal. It seems to be similar to seasonal flu.

The student lives in Otsu and was visiting his parents’ home in Kobe during May 15-18. In Kobe, he worked part-time at a fast-food place where a high school student also working there was later diagnosed with swine flu.

He attended university classes in Kusatsu on the 18th. They are now contacting his classmates who had classes with him at the university.

Ritsumeikan University and most of Shiga’s public schools (especially in Shiga’s six southern cities) will be closed for seven days starting today. Many public and sports events have also been cancelled. Shiga is Japan’s third prefecture hit with swine flu.

School trips to Shiga are being canceled one after another. One school switched its trip from Shiga to Kyoto which I cannot understand. Matter of time before Kyoto gets it too.

Watch all the surgical masks sell out in Shiga from today.

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Failed Karasuma Peninsula resort development creates big losses

Apr 23rd, 2009
by admin.
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Plans to further develop the man-made Karasuma Peninsula in Kusatsu with a resort hotel failed as no takers emerged to build it. A third-sector corporation called the Biwako Lakefront Center  (びわ湖レイクフロントセンター), established in 1989 by Shiga Prefecture, Kusatsu, Shiga Bank, and other companies to promote the hotel resort development, was dissolved in Aug. 2008.

The total losses was calculated in March 2009 as follows:

Shiga Prefecture: Loss of 290 million yen.
Kusatsu city: Loss of 340 million yen.
Shiga Bank: Loss of 460 million yen.

The peninsula already has the Mizunomori lotus pond (blooms in July) and Lake Biwa Museum. The rest of the land is pretty much a park.

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FM Kusatsu (78.5) starts broadcasting

Mar 22nd, 2009
by philbert.
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Radio station FM Kusatsu has started broadcasting on March 22, 2009. When you’re in the Kusatsu area, tune to 78.5 Mhz. Their studio is in Kusatsu Yume Honjin (くさつ夢本陣). They should reach about 80,000 households.

They will offer local programming during 7 am to 7 pm on weekdays, and 9 am to 5 pm on weekends. I hope they will include some international programs as well.

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Emperor and Empress visit Shiga

Nov 15th, 2007
by philbert.
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Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visited Shiga Prefecture for the first time in 13 years during Nov. 10-13, 2007. The main reason was to attend the 27th Zenkoku Yutaka na Umizukuri Taikai (National Convention to Make Bountiful Oceans 第２７回全国豊かな海づくり大会) held in Otsu.
On the first day, they visited a nursing home called Care Town Karasaki in Otsu. Some 20 patients there sang Biwako Shuko no Uta (Lake Biwa Rowing Song) for the Imperial couple and the Emperor demanded an encore for them to sing it again. It is Shiga’s most famous song.
On the second day the 11th, they attended the formal opening ceremony of the National Convention to Make Bountiful Oceans held at the lakeside Biwako Hall in Otsu. In his speech, the Emperor reflected, “It hurts my heart that the blue gill fish I brought to Japan from America for human consumption is now damaging the ecosystem of Lake Biwa.” In 1960 as Crown Prince on a trip to the U.S., the Emperor brought back the blue gill fish given to him in Chicago, Illinois and intended it to be raised in Japan for human consumption.
Some of the blue gill subsequently escaped from a research facility and entered Lake Biwa. The fish multiplied rapidly during the 1990s. Since it eats the baby fish of native lake fish found nowhere else in the world, the blue gill (and black bass) has become a major ecological problem in the lake. After the formal ceremony, the Emperor and Empress went outside the lakeside hall and released baby fish of native lake fish into the lake. Some of the ceremonial pomp included water-spraying fireboats and fishing boats sailing in a procession on the lake. The convention also had pavilions and booths in the Hama-Otsu area for the public to become more aware of fisheries in Lake Biwa.
After the convention, the Imperial couple took a boat ride to Karasuma Peninsula in Kusatsu to visit the Lake Biwa Museum. On the 12th, they visited Shigaraki Ceramic Park and the ruins of Shigaraki-no-Miya which was a detached palace of Emperor Shomu.
On the 13th, they visited Enryakuji temple on Mt. Hiei and returned to Tokyo via shinkansen train from Kyoto Station. It must have been a spectacle to see Shinto’s highest-ranking priest (the emperor) paying a visit to the headquarters of one of Japan’s largest Buddhist sects. Shiga Governor Kada Yukiko accompanied the Emperor and Empress during their tour in Shiga.
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