Held on May 4 near Notogawa Station, the Iba-no-saka-kudashi Matsuri Festival is said to be one of the most unusual festivals. Young men carry (or drag) three heavy portable shrines down a steep mountain riddled with rough spots. I stayed near the bottom or finish line and declined to go up any further because I was too heavy with camera equipment and the slope was too steep. Here’s the video:

Photos: http://photoguide.jp/pix/thumbnails.php?album=829

Another festival I saw was at Namura Shrine in Ryuo on May 5, 2011. The Sekku Matsuri is a prayer for the healthy growth of children and rich harvest. The highlight is the yabusame horseback archery.

Photos: http://photoguide.jp/pix/thumbnails.php?album=461

Mitsui Outlet Park. Click image to see more photos.

Shiga now has another megamall, the much-publicized outlet mall called Mitsui Outlet Park, Shiga Ryuo (三井アウトレットパーク 滋賀竜王) in Ryuo-cho. Opened today on July 8, 2010, the mall is near the Ryuo Interchange on the Meishin Expressway, making it readily accessible by car for shoppers coming from Kyoto, Nara, Mie, and Gifu. It also targets Chinese tourists traveling from the Kansai area to Mt. Fuji and further. Merchants do accept Chinese credit/debit cards. It is the first outlet mall in the Kyoto-Shiga area.

The two-level mall has 165 stores, 145 of which are outlet shops. Most are clothing shops and some are first-time outlet shops. There are many big names including Burberry, Gap Outlet, Barney’s New York Outlet, Armani, Paul Smith, Coach, Beams, Ralph Lauren, Nike, Bebe, Edwin, Vans, Levi’s, Puma, and Adidas. The shops open from 10 am to 8 pm. They expect to attract 4 million shoppers annually.

One shop we have to visit is called Umi-no-Eki Shiga Ryuo (湖の駅滋賀竜王 おいしやうれしや) where they sell Shiga products. The food court includes a restaurant serving local Omi beef, Kua’aina (Hawaiian hamburgers), and Tully’s Coffee. There’s also a Family Mart convenience store.

If you don’t have a car, you can take a local bus from Omi-Hachiman Station or Yasu Station. The ride takes 30 min. in normal traffic. Buses leave twice an hour, costing 450 yen one way from Yasu Station and 500 yen from Omi-Hachiman Station. Expect heavy traffic and crowds during the first few weeks, especially on the weekends until July 19, 2010, when many of the shops will hold an opening fair with special sale prices.

Mitsui Outlet Park is actually a chain of 10 outlet malls developed by Mitsui Fudosan real estate co. All are called “Mitsui Outlet Park” and tagged with the respective location. That’s why “Shiga Ryuo” is part of the mall’s name.

Official Web site in English: http://www.31op.com/shiga/foreign/index_en.html

Here’s what I saw during Golden Week 2010 in Shiga Prefecture (in chronological order):

Photos: Sakata Shinmeigu Yakko-buri Procession 坂田神明宮の蹴り奴振り

Photos: Yuge Fire Festival 弓削の火祭り

Photos: Kenketo Matsuri Festival and Odori Dance ケンケト祭・踊り

Photos: Omizo Matsuri Festival 2010 大溝祭

Photos: Shichikawa Matsuri Festival 2010 七川祭

Photos: Hyozu Matsuri Festival 兵主祭

Photos: Takatora Summit in Kora 2010 高虎サミットin甲良

Sanno Matsuri held by Hiyoshi Taisha in Otsu (Part 1 and 2):


Sanno Matsuri photos: Sanno-sai Festival 山王祭

Minakuchi Hikiyama Matsuri is a festival of floats paraded during April 19-20:

Minakuchi Hikiyama Matsuri photos here.

Kenketo Matsuri in Ryuo (Photos here):

Naginata Odori in Moriyama (Photos here):

Taga Matsuri (Photos here):

I have more spring festivals to show and a full update will be posted soon on my home page (shiga-ken.com).

I finally visited Ryuo-cho for the first time during New Year’s vacation. It’s easy to forget about Ryuo because it has no train station. But it’s easy to reach from Omi-Hachiman Station by bus (twice an hour or so). The tourist info office at Omi-Hachiman Station also had Ryuo-cho tourist pamphlets/maps which helped me decide where to visit.

Many paddies and vegetable fields in Ryuo. Visited Namura Shrine which has a National Treasure and also hiked up Yukinoyama. I have to visit again to hike up Kagamiyama.

My pictures of Ryuo:
http://photoguide.jp/pix/index.php?cat=175