I used to have a long list of links to all my online photo albums, but now I have condensed the photo links and added the following link categories:

• Maps – Google Maps of most Shiga cities and towns. I created these maps with placemarks (usually with a photo) in English.
• Tourist Information – Links to local tourist associations in Shiga cities and towns. Most are only in Japanese.
• Local Governments – Links to official Web sites run by the city hall or town hall.
• International Associations – Links to international associations (kokusai koryu kyokai) in Shiga. They usually handle sister-city activities.
• Education – Links to higher educational institutions and organizations.
• Local News – Links to mass media covering local news in Shiga. (In Japanese only)

I hope the home page will now be more useful to everyone.

July 17, 2010
Echigawa Gion Noryo Hanabi Taikai in Aisho, 7:30 pm – 9:20 pm
Along the Echigawa River bank near Miyukibashi Bridge. If rained out, to be postponed to July 18.
愛知川祇園納涼祭花火大会
More info: 愛荘町秦荘観光協会／愛荘町愛知川観光協会　TEL：0749-37-8051
http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~e-machi/new/hanabitaikai.html

July 24, 2010
Kashiwabara-juku Yaito Matsuri fireworks, 9 pm – 9:20 pm
Near JR Kashiwabara Station in Maibara.
柏原宿やいとまつり
More info: 中山道柏原宿やいと祭実行委員会　TEL：0749‐57‐0256
http://yaito.kashiharasyuku.com/

Aug. 1, 2010
Hikone Dai-Hanabi Taikai at Matsubara Beach, Hikone, 7:45 pm – 8:30 pm
30-min. walk from Hikone Station. If rained out, to be postponed to Aug. 4.
彦根大花火大会
More info: （社）彦根観光協会　Phone: 0749-23-0001
http://www.hikoneshi.com/event/?itemid=641

Ogoto Onsen Noryo Hanabi Taikai in Ogoto Port, 8 pm – 8:30 pm
20-min. walk from Ogoto Onsen Station. Fireworks can be seen from most ryokan in Ogoto.
おごと温泉納涼花火大会
More info: おごと温泉観光協会　Phone: 077-578-1650
http://www.ogotoonsen.com/sightseeing/hanabi/

Omi-Imazu Furusato Natsu Matsuri, 9:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Climax of Imazu’s summer festival starting from 1 pm.
近江今津ふるさと夏祭り　やっさ！今津！！２０１０
More info: 近江今津ふるさと夏まつり実行委員会事務局 Phone: 0740-22-2108
http://www.takashima-kanko.jp/new/20100620_613.html

Hachiman Tenbin Matsuri in Omi-Hachman, 7:30 pm
At Kitanoshosawa area. Shuttle buses provided.
八幡てんびんまつり
More info: 八幡てんびんまつり事務局　Phone: 0748-32-6654
http://tenbinmaturi.hp.infoseek.co.jp/

Aug. 5, 2010
Nagahama Kita-Biwako Hanabi Taikai at Nagahama Port, 7:30 pm
10-min. walk from Nagahama Station. Very crowded so go early to save a spot or pay 3,000 yen for special seating. If rained out, to be postponed to Aug. 9.
長浜・北びわ湖大花火大会
More info: 長浜市観光振興課　Phone: 0749-65-6521
http://nagahamashi.org/news/hanabi2010.html

Aug. 6, 2010
Biwako Dai-Hanabi Taikai at Hama-Otsu and Nagisa Park, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
This is the big one, but prime viewing areas all charge admission of about 4,000 yen (even for children above age 3). The free area is farther away and terribly crowded. People are no longer allowed to save a place with vinyl mats, etc., until the fireworks day. Would you believe people saved a viewing place on Nagisa Park as early as 2 weeks before the fireworks day? If rained out, to be postponed to Aug. 10.
びわ湖大花火大会
More info: びわ湖大花火大会実行委員会　TEL:077-511-1530
http://www.biwako-visitors.jp/hanabi/index.html

Aug. 7, 2010
Makino Summer Carnival at Makino Sunny Beach in Takashima
マキノサマーカーニバル２０１０
More info: 四季遊園マキノ交流促進協議会事務局　Phone: 0740-28-8002
http://www.biwako-visitors.jp/search/event_12577.html

Ujisato Matsuri Summer Gathering in Hino
Fireworks is the climax of this summer festival (bon dance, etc.) held in the northern parking lot of Hino Town Hall.
氏郷まつり「夏の陣」2010
More info: 日野町イベント実行委員会　Phone: 0748-52-6562
http://www.town.shiga-hino.lg.jp/contents_detail.php?co=cat&frmId=1386&frmCd=4-15-2-0-0

Kotonarie Summer Festa in Higashi-Omi’s Hibari Park
Part of an illumination festival.
コトナリエサマーフェスタ２０１０
More info: 東近江市湖東商工会　Phone: 0749-45-2571
http://www.biwako-visitors.jp/search/event_373.html

Aug. 9, 2010
Ishiyama-dera Sennichikai and Setagawa fireworks, 8:30 pm – 9 pm
Fireworks along the Seta River near Ishiyama-dera. 10-min. walk from Ishiyama-dera Station on the Keihan Line.
石山寺千日会と瀬田川に煌く炎のページェント
More info: （社）石山観光協会　Phone: 077-537-1105
http://www.biwako-visitors.jp/search/event_304.html

Aug. 16, 2010
Somagawa Natsu Matsuri near Kibukawa Station, Koka
Fireworks are part of the summer festival with taiko drummers and lantern floating on the river.
杣川夏まつり
More info: 甲賀市観光協会　Phone: 0748-65-0708
http://www.biwako-visitors.jp/search/event_301.html

Aug. 17, 2010
Setagawa River Hanabi Taikai at Seta River in Otsu, 7:50 pm – 9 pm
Near Seta-no-Karahashi Bridge. Short walk from Karahashi-mae Station on the Keihan Line. Fireworks will climax a waterborne festival on boats.
瀬田川花火大会
More info: 瀬田川流域観光協会　Phone: 077-537-1105
http://www.biwako-visitors.jp/search/event_303.html

Aug. 25, 2010
Kinomoto Jizo Dai-ennichi fireworks near JR Kinomoto Station
木之本地蔵大縁日　8月22日（日）～25日（水）（花火は25日のみ）
More info: ふるさと夏まつり実行委員会　Phone: 0749-82-5902
http://www.biwako-visitors.jp/search/event_12358.html

New design of Yokaichi giant kite announced on July 10, 2010 at Yokaichi Odaki Kaikan, Higashi-Omi. Photo by Yokaichi Odako Kaikan.

Every three years, the giant kite flown at Higashi-Omi’s annual Yokaichi Odako (Giant Kite) Matsuri festival in May is replaced with a new one. And this year in 2010 is when they are building a new giant kite to replace the old one which saw its third and last flight in May 2010.

The retired giant kite was installed in the Yokaichi Giant Kite Museum (Yokaichi Odako Kaikan 八日市大凧会館) on July 4, 2010. Meanwhile, the new giant kite is now under construction for about a month from July 10 to Aug. 13, 2010 at the annex behind the museum. The great thing is that anyone can come in and help build the giant kite. No prior training nor experience required. Just go there and someone will tell you what to do. It could be twirling paper strips, pasting paper, or maybe even painting. Or you can just go and watch them work. The work progresses quickly.

The giant kite is about the size of 100 tatami mats. Three years ago, I went there a few times to help build the kite. It was very interesting. See photos here.

One thing you have to understand about the giant kite’s design is that it expresses a certain theme using a combination of word play with an illustrated pair of animals and one or two kanji characters. The design theme for the new kite in 2010 is “Healthy mind and body” (心身 健やか).

The upper half of the design has a pair of dragons. The kanji for dragon is 辰 (tatsu). There are two of them, so it is 辰辰. This tatsu kanji can also be pronounced as shin. So the kanji pair is pronounced as “shin-shin” which is the intended word play for the kanji characters 心身 (meaning mind and body) also pronounced “shin-shin.”

The bottom half of the design is dominated by the kanji 健 for sukoyaka (健やか) which means “healthy.” And so the design means “Healthy mind and body” (心身 健やか). The large kanji is always painted in bright orange. For this kite design, a professional kanji calligrapher was hired to write the 健 kanji for the kite. Incidentally, 2012 will be the year of the dragon when this kite will still be flying.

The design was based on two winning design entries by two eleven-year-old kids who won the design competition. Every three years, the public is invited to submit designs for the new giant kite. For 2010, the design theme was “health” (kenko 健康).

On July 10, 2010, the Yokaichi Odako Preservation Committee announced the winning designs and the final design. This is what they do if there is no single outstanding design entry. They pick the best designs from multiple winners and base the final design on them. This also happened the last time three years ago. The design winner(s) receives only recognition and no prize.

Volunteers work on the Yokaichi giant kite in 2007.

The Yokaichi Giant Kite Museum (Yokaichi Odako Kaikan 八日市大凧会館) is within walking distance from Yokaichi Station on the Ohmi Railways (map here). Also see the progression of the new giant kite’s construction at the Yokaichi Odako Kaikan blog here.

See it here:

http://photoguide.jp/txt/Kora-cho,_Shiga

Kora-cho is the only municipality in Shiga which doesn’t have a tourism Web site. They do have tourist pamphlets, but nothing online.

Shiga gubernatorial election posters.

Voters went to the polls in droves on July 11, 2010 to reelect 60-year-old Kada Yukiko for her second term as governor of Shiga Prefecture. She pulled in a record 419,921 votes, the highest number ever for a Shiga governor. She broke the previous record of 319,563 votes in the 1994 gubernatorial election won by Inaba Minoru.

She managed to garner over 200,000 votes more than the 217,842 votes she got for her first election as governor four years ago. She also got twice as many votes as her closest rival, 44-year-old Ueno Ken’ichiro who attracted 208,707 votes. Ueno got more votes than Kada only in Takashima and Ritto cities.

In most other municipalities, Kada got more than twice the number of votes than Ueno, including the cities of Otsu, Hikone, Omi-Hachiman, and Moriyama whose mayors (including Ritto’s mayor) publicly opposed Kada’s reelection. Goes to show how out of touch mayors can be with their own citizens. Basically, these mayors are complaining about Kada not consulting or informing them beforehand about prefectural plans in their cities. Probably the reason is that these mayors wouldn’t agree anyway even if they were consulted.

Knowing how popular she is with the people, the other mayors in Shiga meanwhile ignored these five minority mayors opposing Kada. Perhaps these mayors’ public opposition to Kada spurred voters to vote for her to make sure she gets reelected.

Kada ran on a similar platform as the last election, using “Mottainai Plus” as her campaign keyword. During the past four years, she came through with her campaign promise of stopping wasteful governmental spending on huge, unneeded projects such as the Ritto shinkansen station and the Daidogawa Dam in Otsu. Especially when Shiga’s coffers are in dire straits. Kada worked to stop pork barrel projects and kept her campaign promise, winning her the people’s trust. By stopping or freezing these construction projects, she has saved Shiga 100 billion yen which she now plans to redirect for more essential programs such as hiring more nursery school teachers and elderly care workers.

According to a friend of mine who was there, it was a hot and steamy room (no air conditioning and windows were closed to reduce noise) at Kada’s campaign headquarters in Otsu when she won the election and appeared before supporters with her grandkids.

Voter turnout was high at 61.56% for the gubernatorial election. This was much higher than the last election’s 44.94%. The higher voter turnout is attributed to the coinciding elections of the Shiga governor and Shiga’s representative (won by Hayashi Kumiko) to the Upper House (House of Councillors) in the National Diet. Shiga’s total number of eligible voters on July 11, 2010 was 1,090,743. Over 60% of them voted.

For her second term, Kada wants to maintain dialog with Shiga residents and work together with them. She strives to work on a grassroots level. Indeed, her campaign activities included coffee time meetings in 21 locations in Shiga from April 2010. She met with 1,600 residents, listening to their concerns and problems about elderly care, support for small- and medium-size businesses, and other issues.

She plans to focus on making child-rearing and elderly care in Shiga easier and improve employment opportunities for young people. When asked whether she would run for a third term, she implied a yes. “Right after you give birth, you don’t feel like having another child. But as you raise the child and the child grows, you come to desire another one.”

Meanwhile, Ritto mayor Kunimatsu Shoichi announced on July 16, 2010 that he would not run for a third term as Ritto mayor in Oct. when mayoral elections will be held. He was the one who butt heads with Kada the most, over the Ritto shinkansen station. The Ritto mayor actually went against the majority of Shiga residents who opposed the shinkansen station. The governor represented the majority. Hopefully, the new Ritto mayor will be able to work better with the governor and we will see less pork barrel politics in Shiga.

Congratulations to Kada-chan!

Tickets are also available at Lute Plaza, Azai Bunka Hall, Nagahama Bunka Geijutsu Kaikan, Hikiyama Hakubutsukan Museum, and Keibun. (リュートプラザ、浅井文化ホール、長浜文化芸術会館、曳山博物館、KEIBUN）

The Tonda puppet troupe receives trainees from overseas on a regular basis. In this upcoming show, five college students from the US and UK will appear. They’ve been training full time (8 hours/day on weekdays) since June 10, 2010 at the Tonda Puppet Hall in Nagahama while doing homestays with local families. Their teacher is Abe Hidehiko (阿部秀彦), the leader of the Tonda troupe.

Each puppet weighing about 4 kg is manipulated by three people. Two of them are usually dressed as kurogo with their faces covered. So I wonder how we’ll recognize the non-Japanese puppeteers.

I saw the Tonda bunraku in Dec. 2009 at Lute Plaza and it was impressive even though I couldn’t understand the story so well. But I’m always happy to see foreigners learning traditional Japanese things, especially in Shiga. I wish them well.

Lute Plaza Web site

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

You can also subscribe via RSS feed or email feed. The shiga-ken.com home page also has a headline animator showing the five most recent Shiga News headlines.

The clay sculpture has been dated as from the early Jomon Period, about 13,000 years ago. It was found in the Aidani-kumahara ruins (相谷熊原遺跡) in Higashi-Omi’s Eigenji area near the Echigawa River. They found it in a pillar hole.

The clay figure will be on public display as follows:

Info in Japanese:
http://www.shiga-bunkazai.jp/event/kokuchi/aidani.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

Lakestars vs. Tokyo Apache at Yokohama on March 6, 2010

The Shiga Lakestars pro basketball team in Japan’s bj league played well enough this 2009-2010 season to make the playoffs in the Western Conference for the first time in only their second year in the league. Coming in 4th place in the seven-team Western Conference with 29 wins and 23 losses, they qualified to advance to the playoff contest. The top four winning teams in the Western and Eastern Conferences battled it out in a two-game series of the Conference semi-finals held during May 15-16, 2010.

The 4th place Lakestars had to face the 1st-place team Osaka Evessa. Unfortunately, the Lakestars lost both games against the Evessa this weekend and could not advance to the Conference Finals to be played on May 22, 2010 in Ariake Colleseum in Tokyo. Their first game against Osaka was especially heartbreaking as they lost by 1 point (60-61). Their second game result was 68-78. They played at Kobe Port Island Hall. Wish I saw the game.

The Shiga Lakestars did all they could to qualify for the playoffs, something which just barely eluded them during their first season. We saw quite a few changes in the roster during this season, something we didn’t see last season when the players didn’t really change.

But this season, Mike Hall was released, Ray Schafer came back, popular Bobby Nash was released (miss him), and Mikey Marshall came in. It was clear that they wanted to get the best players available to increase their chances of making the playoffs which they did. But advancing beyond the first round has eluded them this time. But at least they made the playoffs and are showing improvement. Their sponsors and fans should be happy to see definite improvement. Making it to the Conference Finals (at least) is the team’s goal for next season, no doubt.

I also welcomed neighboring Kyoto Hannryz as the new kid on the block this season. Being a rookie team, they unsurprisingly struggled and finished last (7th place) in the Western Conference. Head coach David Benoit was fired in mid-season as a result. The team didn’t improve after Benoit was fired. The team’s management must learn to be patient before seeing concrete results. Give the coach at least two years.

Reminded me of the time when Rakuten quickly fired its pro baseball team general manager (an American) during its debut year when the team was not doing so well. These young team owners are too impatient, always wanting instant results. I call them the instant-ramen generation. They dislike spending time and trouble to make handmade noodles in broth cooked overnight with all kinds of goodies. They get high on artificial additives instead.

I’m glad that Lakestars Head Coach Robert Pierce was retained for the Lakestars’ second year even though they failed to make the playoffs during their debut season. They now have a good reason to retain him again, but his two-year contract has expired and we may see a new coach next season. Also, I really hope that Joho Masashi will be retained for next season. He’s such a crowd pleaser and a good player to boot. Fun to watch him play. Mikey Marshall played well too, and he should be retained as well.

On May 22 at Ariake Colleseum, Osaka and Okinawa Golden Kings will vie for the Western Conference title, and Hamamatsu and Niigata will go for the Eastern Conference title. The winners will play in the championship game, and the losers will play for the 3rd place on the next day. I plan to be at Ariake for the final game. Too bad Shiga won’t be there.

Anyway, thanks to the Lakestars for all your efforts this season. I enjoy watching games when I can (which unfortunately isn’t too often–too many things going on during weekends). I love the cheerleaders too, Magnee, and all the noise that the boosters (who received the bj-league’s No. 1 Booster Award) make both at home and away games.

I look forward to next season. See you again in Oct.

My Lakestars photo gallery: http://photoguide.jp/pix/index.php?cat=102

My Lakestars page: http://photoguide.jp/txt/Shiga_Lakestars

The back of the map has a guide to Nagahama hotels and ryokan inns and the ferry schedule to Chikubushima. The Northern Shiga Kohoku Sightseeing Federation sponsored the production of the map. They printed 5,000 copies.

http://brianwilliamsart.com/

The video was shot by John Wells, an old friend of mine in Kyoto.

Japan will no longer have a municipality named “Azuchi.” This name is famous as the name of Azuchi Castle built by Oda Nobunaga for which the Azuchi-Momoyama Period of Japanese history is partially named.

This successful merger was the second attempt for both municipalities to merge. The first attempt was botched due to opposition by Azuchi residents.

This second attempt, though successful, was a very messy merger up until the day of the merger. After the red tape was completed in July 2009 to merge Omi-Hachiman and Azuchi, opposition arose among Azuchi residents. They sought to oust the Azuchi mayor who pretty much railroaded the merger through the town’s assembly. A referendum was held on Aug. 23, 2009, and 60-year-old Mayor Tsumura Takashi was ousted and replaced in Oct. 2009 by a mayor who opposed the merger.

Since the new Azuchi mayor still faced a town assembly which favored the merger, in March this month, the opposition successfully ousted and replaced those town assembly members who voted for the merger.

The mayor and assembly worked to cancel the merger declaring that the majority of Azuchi residents were opposed to it. However, they received a deaf ear from both Shiga Prefecture and the Japanese government both saying that the completed merger process cannot be reversed. Everyone knew that their efforts were futile. But it should be a lesson and warning for future mergers. The feelings and opposition of affected residents must not be ignored.

The main sticking point for those opposed to the merger was that the historic name “Azuchi” would disappear from Japanese maps. Unfortunately, when a vote was taken to decide the name of the merged city, “Omi-Hachiman” won by a single majority vote. Other choices had included the name “Azuchi” such as “Hachiman-Azuchi.” I was surprised they did not retain “Azuchi” since it is far more famous nationally than “Omi-Hachiman.” During the first merger attempt, the merged city was actually slated to be named “Azuchi.”

I can understand people’s affinity with the place name of their hometowns. But the reality is that Azuchi is in dire financial straits (so is Omi-Hachiman). By merging, it would be eligible for subsidies from the Japanese government. “Azuchi” will remain as a place name in resident addresses.

On March 19, 2010, Azuchi held a town-closing ceremony attended by 70 people. It included a slide show reviewing the town’s 56-year history. The town hall was closed for conversion to a branch office of Omi-Hachiman City Hall. On March 21, 2010, Omi-Hachiman City Hall held a ceremony marking the merger. About 170 people attended. Meanwhile, the interim mayor of Omi-Hachiman until the mayoral election (April 25) could not be decided so Shiga Governor Kada had to appoint one. She appointed the former mayor of Omi-Hachiman who is also seeking re-election.

The last Azuchi mayor commented that he and his cohorts will continue to try and break away from Omi-Hachiman and restore the town of Azuchi.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sp20100321eo.html

Also see my photos of the Shiga Lakestars vs. Tokyo Apache at Yokohama on March 6, 2010.
http://photoguide.jp/pix/thumbnails.php?album=23

The Lakestars are doing quite well, maintaining 4th place in the Western Conference. We expect them to make it to the playoffs this season.

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.

On the Tokaido Line, the last train from Kyoto Station to Yasu Station now leaves at 12:34 am instead of 12:58 am. In the mornings and evenings of Sundays and national holidays, there is one less train run going from Yasu to Maibara and from Maibara to Yasu. (So four fewer train runs on Sundays and holidays.)

As for the Kosei Line between Kyoto and Katata Stations, the four train runs per hour between 10 am and 2 pm on weekdays will be reduced to only three train runs per hour in both directions. Between Kyoto and Omi-Maiko Stations, there will be one less train run in both directions in the evenings during both weekdays, Sundays, and holidays.

The Kusatsu Line and Hokuriku Line are not affected by cuts in train runs (although the train schedule may be different from before).

Kada Yukiko campaign poster in 2006

Shiga Prefecture’s Governor KADA Yukiko announced on Feb. 16, 2010 that she will run for a second term as governor of Shiga. She made the announcement at Shiga Prefecture’s legislative assembly in Otsu.

Her first four-year term as Shiga governor will end this summer when gubernatorial elections will be held. She seeks wide support among the people of Shiga without relying on any single political party. She plans to draw up a manifesto for her second term while incorporating the opinions of the people of Shiga. She plans to meet with various organizations in Shiga for feedback.

While the Japanese Communist Party plans to field a candidate for Shiga governor, the other major parties have not yet announced plans to field a candidate. Any candidate will have an uphill battle against Kada who is quite popular in Shiga. People affectionately call her “Kada-chan.”

The 59-year-old Kada is Shiga’s first female governor. Four years ago in 2006, her campaign slogan was, “Mottai nai” which means “Wasteful,” in reference to wasteful spending for unnecessary public works projects such as the shinkansen bullet train station in Ritto. This clicked with voters and helped her defeat incumbent governor Kunimatsu Yoshitsugu who was in favor of the shinkansen station. Kunimatsu happened to be a native of Ritto and the Ritto mayor was also his cousin, Kunimatsu Shoichi (still the Ritto mayor).

Kada kept her campaign promise and had the shinkansen train station in Ritto scrapped. This greatly disappointed the Ritto mayor, but most people in Shiga were opposed to the shinkansen station which would’ve been too close to Kyoto Station. Ritto is also not a major population center. (Shiga already has a shinkansen station in Maibara.)

Before becoming governor, Kada was a professor at Kyoto Seika University and a curator at Lake Biwa Museum in Kusatsu. I once met her briefly and found her to be very down-to-earth and easy to talk to. She could easily be your best friend’s mom. Although we foreigners cannot vote, Governor Kada has my support.

All four of Japan’s freestyle mogul women skiers had passed the qualification round. A tearful UEMURA Aiko came in 4th, narrowly missing the bronze medal. However, she did better than last time at Turin when she placed 5th. I bet Uemura will try again at her 5th winter Olympics.

Some 400 people gathered at a community hall in Hino to watch and cheer Ito on a large TV screen.

Congrats to Miki for a good experience.

UPDATE:

Ito Miki returned to Japan early from Vancouver and visited Hino Town Hall in Shiga Prefecture on Feb. 23. She was welcomed by almost 100 people including the mayor of Hino. She thanked everyone for their cheering and support and commented that although she did not attain an outstanding result, she was happy to have skied her best. Her 12th place finish is an improvement over her 20th place finish at the Turin Olympics in 2006.

ITO Miki (伊藤みき) hails from Hino, Shiga and Vancouver is her second Winter Olympics after Torino. She will compete in the freestyle skiing mogul event along with media darling Uemura Aiko. Born in 1987, Miki attended elementary and junior high school in Hino and graduated from the Omi Kyodaisha (Omi Brotherhood) Senior High School in Omi-Hachiman.

She placed 20th in Torino in 2006, but she’s looking much better now. Since she’s not getting much media attention (spotlight is always on Uemura), she has less pressure and may well deliver an outstanding result. (Japanese athletes often seem to perform best when they are not under the media spotlight.) She’s a student at Chukyo University in Nagoya and has two sisters who are also mogul skiers. Miki has been a competitive skier since 1996 (age 9).

The second Winter Olympian from Shiga is OKADA Rana (岡田 良菜), a native of Otsu. Born in 1991, she is a snowboarder competing in the halfpipe event. Encouraged by her parents, she started snowboarding while in the 2nd grade, and entered her first halfpipe contest in junior high. During the 2008-09 season, she won the All-Japan Championship. In Jan. 2009, she placed 8th at the FIS Snowboard World Championships. She is employed by a snowboard shop called Hood in Gifu Prefecture.

Their appearances will be broadcast on TV. The broadcast times will be listed here later.

Let’s wish them the best of luck, along with all the other athletes.

Ito Miki’s official profile in English:
http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-freestyle-skiing/athletes/miki-ito_ath1003961uy.html

Ito Miki’s Web site (in Japanese):
http://ameblo.jp/itomiki-blog/

Okada Rana’s official profile in English:
http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-snowboard/athletes/rana-okada_ath1004004Wd.html

Okada Rana’s Web site (in Japanese):
http://www.rana-okada.com/