Chronology of Shiga Prefecture’s news bits for January-December 2009. Compiled by Philbert Ono.
Updated: April 27, 2025
March 1, 2009: Hikone Prince Hotel is renamed Hikone View Hotel (彦根ビューホテル) upon the change of the hotel ownership from Prince Hotels to a Tokyo-based company called Study, Co., Ltd. The hotel is now part of the Itoen Hotel Group.
March 3, 2009: The six northern Shiga towns of Torahime, Kohoku, Takatsuki, Kinomoto, Yogo, and Nishi-Azai (虎姫、湖北、高月、木之本、余呉、西浅井) signed a letter of agreement (協定書に調印) to merge with the city of Nagahama on Jan. 1, 2010. The letter signing was witnessed by Governor Yukiko Kada who gave her blessing to the proposed merger.
By March 17, 2009, all the town councils and the Nagahama city council passed a bill to merge. They will then submit an application to merge to Shiga Prefecture for approval. On March 25, Governor Kada will submit a bill to the prefectural assembly to approve the merger.
This merger was proposed a few years ago, but failed. This time, they reopened merger talks in Oct. 2007 and met eleven times to finally sign the letter of agreement.
The letter of agreement stipulated the following major points:
- The six towns are to merge into Nagahama.
- The name of the newly expanded city will remain “Nagahama.”
- The new city will inherit all the assets and liabilities of the six towns.
- The current total of 93 city and town council members will shrink to 63 after the merger.
- The city hall will remain at the Nagahama City Hall.
After the merger, the total population of the city will be about 124,000, making it Shiga’s second most populous city and largest city in area with about 680 sq. km. I hope each town will retain their old place names (Yogo-cho, Takatsuki-cho, etc.).The proposed merger was approved by the prefectural government.
March 1, 2009: Held annually for 64 times since 1946, the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon is losing a major sponsor after March 1, 2009. Kyoto-based electronic parts maker ROHM Co., Ltd. has stated that it will no longer be a sponsor of the marathon after the 64th race on March 1, 2009. The company had shouldered about half the cost of holding the marathon.
The 42-km men-only marathon is held on the first Sunday of March mainly in Otsu, with part of the route in neighboring Kusatsu. The city of Otsu contributes 15 million yen, while Shiga Prefecture shells out 30 million yen to the hold one of Japan’s oldest marathons. With ROHM gone, officials are scrambling to find ways to make up for the shortfall and continue holding the marathon.
The marathon has seen numerous famous runners in the past, including winners Abebe Bikila in 1961 and 1965, Frank Shorter in 1973, and Toshihiko Seko in 1988. To qualify to enter the race, you must have recently run a full marathon within 2.5 hours.
Mar. 4, 2009: Caffee (キャッフィー), the mascot character used for Sports Recreation Shiga 2008, was sworn in by Shiga Governor Kada Yukiko as one of Shiga’s official mascots, especially for sports events.
March 26, 2009: Omi-Hachiman’s city council passed a bill to establish the Omi-Hachiman-Azuchi Municipal Merger Deliberation Council (近江八幡市・安土町合併協議会) on April 1 to aim for a municipal merger with neighboring Azuchi town. Azuchi also passed the same bill in their town council on March 25, 2009.
They both aim to merge by March 2010. However, a citizens group in Azuchi gathered 4,000 signatures and submitted a petition to the Azuchi Town Council to require a referendum to be held to vote on the issue. Unfortunately, the bill to hold a referendum was rejected by the town council who took a vote on the issue on April 14, 2009. The town council apparently wants the merger to go through despite the residents’ opposition.
Such a merger was attempted four years ago, but a referendum in Azuchi rejected it. One problem is that Omi-Hachiman is in deep debt and no one really wants to merge with that city. Interesting that neighboring Ryuo town is not even close to merging with Omi-Hachiman even though the town is part of Omi-Hachiman’s area.
March 2009: The construction of the new Maibara Station is pretty much complete with the opening of the east-west corridor on Mar. 21st.
Mar. 30, 2009: The prefectural government announces that they found at least 44 suspected cases of slush funds or suspicious accounting created for illicit purposes by prefectural government departments and employees. The alleged backdoor money (called uragane 裏金) totaled at least 6.9 million yen.
Bank accounts with fake department names (like 「コナンドボクジムショ」「シガケンドボクジム」) were created to receive the money and numerous withdrawals were made.
Not only that, gift certificates and taxi coupons purchased since 15 years ago were found to be unaccountable in 25 departments and sections including the governor’s office, Board of Education, and health and welfare section.
At a press conference, Lieutenant Governor Sawada apologized to the people of Shiga and vowing to introduce countermeasures to prevent a recurrence.
Mar. 31, 2009: In a rare turnabout of policy, the Construction and Transport Ministry announced that it would freeze construction of Daidogawa Dam (大戸川ダム) in Otsu. The decision was made in consideration of opposition to the dam by the governors of Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka and Mie prefectures. The ministry had stated that the dam was needed to prevent any great flood that may occur. The affected municipalities (Otsu and Uji in Kyoto) and residents, however, were in favor of the dam.
Mar. 2009: 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.
April 2009: The Shiga Lakestars pro basketball team in the bj-league ends their debut season in 5th place with a record of 19 wins and 33 losses.
April 1, 2009: Smoking is totally banned inside the Shiga Prefectural Office (Kencho). The smoker’s rooms on each floor will be removed and smokers will have to go outside the building to smoke.
May 4, 2009: The Nyu Chawan Matsuri festival is held in Yogo for the first time in six years.
May 10, 2009: In Aisho, Kongorinji temple (金剛輪寺) installed a new Mandala. Kongorinji, one of the Koto Sanzan temple trio of Tendai Buddhist temples (National Treasures) in Aisho, eastern Shiga, lost its precious Mandala about 140 years ago during the Meiji Era (it is now owned by Nezu Art Museum in Tokyo and designated as an Important Cultural Property). They tried to get it back from the museum but to no avail.
So in April 2005, they set out to create a duplicate Mandala and it was recently completed after four years of painstaking art work. A service was held on May 10, 2009 at the temple to transfer a spirit to the Mandala and to install it in the temple. The service was officiated by the 91-year-old Tendai Zasu abbot (the sect’s top priest) as well. The Mandala, called Kongokai Hachiju-isson Mandala (金剛界八十一尊曼荼羅), is now open for public viewing in the temple’s Hondo hall until May 31, 2009. Public viewings of the Mandala will be held only once a year. More details here.
May 20, 2009: Shiga’s first case of swine flu (H1N1) is confirmed. A 23-year-old male student at the Biwako-Kusatsu campus of Ritsumeikan University is the first patient in Shiga. His symptoms are not serious and he was hospitalized. The news hits the local tourism industry very hard as school trips to Shiga are canceled. By late Sept. 2009, well over 2,000 people, mainly children, are infected in Shiga.
May 22, 2009: The deliberation committee for the merger between Omi-Hachiman and neighboring Azuchi held a vote to decide the new name of the city after merging. Two proposed names were up for voting: Omi-Hachiman (近江八幡) and Omi-Hachiman-Azuchi (近江八幡安土). It was a close vote, but Omi-Hachiman won the most votes.
May 27, 2009: The swine flu was found to hit a third person in Shiga, a 36-year-old male company worker who works in Kyoto and lives in Otsu. He has a wife and child who so far shows no signs of the flu.
Shiga is no longer taking drastic precautions against the swine flu, as the spread seems to have subsided and flu patients have been recovering well. Much fewer people are also wearing surgical masks on trains, etc. The period of panic and paranoia is passing.
Schools in Shiga reopened on May 27 as scheduled.
Meanwhile, hotels, ryokan inns, and other tourism-related businesses in Shiga and Kyoto have been hit hard by numerous school trip cancellations. As of May 23, about 63,000 visitors canceled trips to Shiga. This translates to a loss of about 1.2 billion yen (1,200,000,000) in business. Businesses are seeking financial help from the prefectural government.
May 30, 2009: At a total cost of 650 million yen, the old Toyosato Elementary School is completely renovated and reopened to the public with an exhibition room, local public library, children’s room, and offices of the local board of education. The old building was repainted, reinforced against earthquakes, installed with an elevator, and preserved as much as possible. The second floor with classrooms is preserved as it was originally.
June 1, 2009: Smoking on the streets in and around Kurokabe Square in Nagahama is banned. Smoking is banned along the main shopping arcades in central Nagahama, including Otemon-dori, the Daitsuji temple area, and the Ekimae-dori main road from Nagahama Station heading east (toward the mountains). Smoking is banned in a total of 5 km of streets in central Nagahama. Signs and stickers are posted on the streets to inform people of the smoking ban. There are five designated places where smokers can smoke. Look on the map. Otherwise, you may be fined up to 11,999 yen for smoking in banned areas.
June 7, 2009: Hikone’s official mascot, Hiko-nyan, takes his first overseas trip to Hawai’i to appear in the Pan-Pacific Festival parade held along Kalakaua Ave. in Waikiki.
July 1, 2009: Smoking is banned in and around all major train stations in Otsu.
July 1, 2009: It is now illegal to use a mobile phone while riding a bicycle in Japan. Using a cell phone while driving is already illegal, but now it is also illegal while riding a bicycle.
According to the police, there were eighteen bicycling accidents in Shiga caused by the rider using a mobile phone while cycling. Four of the accidents resulted in serious injuries. The police has concluded that when you use a mobile phone (keitai or K-tai) with one hand while riding a bicycle, you cannot focus your attention on the road and you are more prone to lose your balance and crash.
You cannot talk on the phone, write/read email, nor watch videos on your mobile phone while riding a bicycle. So, just do not hold your mobile phone in one hand while riding a bicycle. If you get caught, you may be fined no more than 50,000 yen.
If you need to use your phone, just stop riding your bicycle. Problem solved.
Aug. 10, 2009: The city of Hikone issued a request to Osaka-based Moheron to stop sales of his Hiko-nyan lookalikes (other than the picture books), citing copyright and trademark infringement. He defiantly replied that it was possible for the same character to exist under two different names. Moheron claims that Hikone’s rights to Hiko-nyan are limited to the three original poses (showing Hiko-nyan jumping, sitting, and drawing a sword) adopted for the 400th castle celebration, and that he is freely allowed to create and market other poses of Hiko-nyan. More details here.
Aug. 24, 2009: Twelve-year-old Murakami Koji (村川康嗣) dies due to injuries from judo practice at Hatasho Junior High School in Aisho on July 29. Although the judo instructor was found to be at fault, he was not held personally liable for the death of the boy. The boy’s mother unsuccessfully sought damages from the instructor, although the town was held liable and was ordered to pay damage by the court.
Sept. 7, 2009: Kato Tokiko, a famous singer best known for her 1971 recording of Biwako Shuko no Uta, is appointed as a Shiga Hometown Ambassador (Shiga Furusato Taishi) by Shiga Governor Kada Yukiko.
Sept. 12, 2009: The movie, Katen no Shiro (Castle of the Fire God 火天の城) is released to theaters nationwide. The movie is about Okabe Mataemon, a Nagoya (Atsuta)-based master carpenter who in 1576 was ordered by Japan’s leading warlord Oda Nobunaga to build Azuchi Castle on Mt. Azuchi fronting Lake Biwa.
Sept. 19-20, 2009: The first Inazuma Rock Fes is held at Karasuma Peninsula by Shiga-native Nishikawa Takanori, a famous musician known as T.M.Revolution.
Oct. 23-25, 2009: The 2nd Yuru-Kyara (Mascot Character) Matsuri is held on Yume-Kyobashi Castle Road in Hikone. Well over 100 PR mascots adorned the road and posed for pictures. On the first day, most of the mascots appeared on stage at the Hikone Bunka Plaza where singer Hashi Yukio sang the Yuru-chara ondo song.
