Riding on the coattails of last year’s NHK Taiga Drama Go and the Azai Sisters, the city of Nagahama is following up on their successful Go and Azai Sisters Expo by holding another feudal history expo this year called Nagahama Sengoku Taiga Furusato-haku (長浜・戦国大河ふるさと博) from March 24 to Dec. 2, 2012.
It can be translated as Nagahama Warring States Hometown Expo. I’m told that as of this writing, they have no plans to provide any foreign language information for this expo (none for last year’s expo either). So I’ll voluntarily provide essential information in English. (My Go and Azai Sisters post (and Go Expo photos) was last year’s most popular Shiga News post receiving several hundred hits.)
Last year’s expo was limited to places in northern Shiga related to Go and the Azai sisters. But for this year’s expo, they are expanding the theme by including major sengoku (warring states) sites. The expo thus covers a larger area than last year, which means you might not be able to see all the expo sites in one day.
Like last year’s expo, Odani Castle is included as one of the expo sites and a shuttle bus will be provided to go up the mountain. A guide will be on hand to conduct tours (in Japanese only). There’s also Mt. Shizugatake (guide provided), Chikubushima island, a pavilion in Kinomoto, the Azai Folk History Museum, and a small pavilion in central Nagahama. First-time visitors should not miss Odani Castle, Mt. Shizugatake (splendid views of Lake Biwa and Lake Yogo), and Chikubushima (Lake Biwa’s most famous and historic island).
Sengoku history fans also should note that Nagahama also has the Ishida Mitsunari Birthplace and the Battle of Anegawa Site, both of which surprisingly are not included in the expo, but accessible by local bus routes. Nagahama Castle is not part of the expo either. It is readily accessible and probably doesn’t need the extra publicity.
Expo admission will be charged. As of this writing, it doesn’t look like they will have a passport-type pass (like last year) to all the expo sites. The sites have been grouped into three areas: Odani-Azai Area, Chikubushima-Nagahama Area, and Shizugatake-Kinomoto Area. Each attraction is charging its own admission. Admission to the pavilions is 300 yen, while going to Chikubushima will cost 2,980 yen for the round-trip boat ride from Nagahama Port plus 400 yen to enter the site. Mt. Shizugatake has a round-trip chair lift costing 760 yen (hiking up/down for free is also possible). There are discounts for junior high school and younger kids. Admission is free for infants younger than elementary school age.
A shuttle bus costing 500 yen will run to all the expo sites. However, the shuttle bus will not run during June 1 to July 22 (rainy season) and the entire month of September (typhoon season perhaps).
After the expo starts and I visit the expo this spring, I will update this page with more details and photos. Till then, make plans to visit Nagahama this year if you haven’t visited yet.
