Chronology of Shiga Prefecture’s news bits for January-December 2012. Compiled by Philbert Ono.
Jan. 22, 2012: Naomi Koshi (越 直美) defeats two-term (8 years) incumbent Mayor Makoto Mekata (目片信) by almost 10,000 votes to become Shiga’s first female mayor. At age 36, she is Japan’s youngest woman mayor ever to be elected. Ms. Koshi is an Otsu native. More details here.
Feb. 19, 2012: Moguls skier Miki Ito places 3rd in FIS Freestyle World Cup.
Mar. 11, 2012: Various events are held in Shiga to mark the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake or Tohoku (northeastern Japan) triple disaster. Memorial services and prayers are held at a number temples in Shiga such as the Kannon temples in Takatsuki, Nagahama and Ishiyama-dera in Otsu. Many people spend a minute of silence at around 2:46 pm when the earthquake struck a year before. In Higashi-Omi, a large kite bearing the word “Recover” (復興 Fukko) is flown. In Kutsuki, Takashima, about 50 children write prayer messages on cards attached to 250 balloons which were then released. In the evening, candlelight vigils are held in Hikone and Otsu. Meanwhile, 389 evacuees (152 families) from Tohoku remain in Shiga Prefecture as of March 8, 2012. Most of them, totaling 250, are from Fukushima Prefecture. Sixty-five people are from Miyagi Prefecture and 6 are from Iwate Prefecture. Ninety-nine evacuees are living in public housing rent-free. This arrangement is being extended by 6 months to 2 years. Some 81 evacuee children (47 in grade school and 17 in junior high) are attending schools in Shiga.
March 24, 2012: Nagahama Sengoku Taiga Furusato-haku (Warring States Hometown Expo 長浜・戦国大河ふるさと博) expo opens in Nagahama. The expo runs until Dec. 2, 2012. The expo focuses on the Battle of Shizugatake and the Battle of Anegawa with side attractions Odani Castle and Chikubushima island.
May 7, 2012: Hikone Board of Education publishes a manga comic booklet in English titled, Hikone: A Journey in Time. Targeting tourists, the black-and-white manga explains about Hikone’s feudal history and cultural sights through the eyes of John, a fictitious 20-year-old lad from Michigan (Shiga’s sister state) visiting Hikone while staying with a Japanese family. The A5-size, 70-page booklet sold for 500 yen at the Hikone Castle Museum.
May 21, 2012: People in southeastern Shiga Prefecture joined the masses in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka to view the rare annular eclipse over most of Japan’s Pacific Ocean side. Many school kids in Shiga went to school about an hour early and gathered on the school grounds to view the eclipse using solar eclipse sunglasses. Earth science students at Maibara High School used high-powered telescopes to successfully observe and photograph Baily’s beads which appear at the moment when the ring forms.
July 10, 2012: Due to bomb threats, Ojiyama Junior High School 皇子山中学校 in Otsu suspends classes a little over a week before the school year ended. Making national headlines nearly every day in June-July is a bullying-suicide scandal centering on a 13-year-old student at the school who jumped off a building and committed suicide upon the alleged encouragement of bullies. Ojiyama Junior High School and Otsu Board of Education are also accused of trying to cover up the student’s suicide that occurred in Oct. 2011. Local Otsu police ignored the deceased boy’s father’s repeated request to investigate his son’s bullying in school. The foot-dragging by the school, Otsu Board of Education, and Otsu police has snowballed into a major scandal attracting national attention. The Ministry of Education and the Shiga Prefectural Police finally took action to investigate, nine months after the suicide.
July 23, 2012: Crown Prince Naruhito (Japan’s next emperor) arrives in Shiga for an official visit to attend a blood donation promotion convention (献血運動推進全国大会) held in Otsu on July 24. His Imperial Highness arrived via shinkansen bullet train at JR Maibara Station where he was welcomed by Shiga Governor Yukiko Kada. He then proceeded by car to Higashi-Omi where he toured Gokasho, visiting the stately homes of Omi merchants.
July 27-Aug. 12, 2012: Six athletes from Shiga compete in the London Summer Olympics: ABIKO Tomomi, Women’s pole vault; INUI Yukiko, Duet synchronized swimming; KAKIIWA Reika (silver medalist and Japan’s first medal in the sport), Badminton; OTA Yuki (silver medalist), Fencing; and ARAKI Erika, KIMURA Saori, SAKODA Saori, NAKAMICHI Hitomi (bronze medalists), Women’s volleyball.
Aug. 15, 2012: In connection with the bully-suicide case at Ojiyama Junior High School, the Superintendent of the Otsu Board of Education, Kenji Sawamura (65), is attacked right in his office at Otsu City Hall by a 19-year-old college student from Saitama city. He was hit by a hammer on the head and sustained injuries while he and another colleague wrestled the attacker to the floor.
Nov. 27, 2012: Shiga Governor Yukiko Kada announces the formation of a new political party called Nippon Mirai no To (日本未来の党) which means “Party for Japan’s Future.” She states that the primary goal is abolishing nuclear power in Japan in 10 years. A good number of minor political parties have already joined hands with Governor Kada’s new party, including those led by former political kingpin Ichiro Ozawa and Shizuka Kamei.
