Ozushima island in Yamaguchi

This is an island in the Seto Inland Sea in Yamaguchi Prefecture. When seeing this kanji name (大津島), those of us in Shiga cannot help but to call this island “Otsushima.”… Read more

Governor Kada’s new political party fizzles out

This has become an “I told you so” story. People who were opposed to Kada joining hands with Ichiro Ozawa must be repeating this a lot. Most of us can… Read more

Happy New Year 2013!

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Shiga History 2012

Chronology of Shiga Prefecture’s news bits for January-December 2012. Compiled by Philbert Ono.Updated: April 27, 2025 Jan. 22, 2012: Naomi Koshi (越 直美) defeats two-term (8 years) incumbent Mayor Makoto Mekata… Read more

Shiga Governor Yukiko Kada forms new political party

What seemed to be totally out of the blue, our Shiga Governor Yukiko Kada has formed a new political party called Nippon Mirai no To (日本未来の党) which means “Party for Japan’s… Read more

Seian University of Art and Design

I recently visited Seian University of Art and Design in western Otsu (near Ogoto Onsen Station on the JR Kosei Line) for the first time. (In Japanese. the university is called Seian Zokei Daigaku 成安造形大学.) I was… Read more

Omi gods and buddhas religious art exhibition in Tokyo

Went to Mitsui Memorial Museum in Nihonbashi, Tokyo to see an exhibition of religious art from Shiga Prefecture. It was excellent. Buddha statues, mandalas, bells, scrolls, etc., from many of… Read more

NHK Shiga TV news videos

I’m very pleased to see NHK TV’s Shiga news Web site providing video clips of their 6:10 pm evening TV news program. Before, they only provided a short text summary… Read more