The H1N1 influenza is officially in epidemic mode in Japan, and Shiga now has over 2,500 children who contracted the virus during the first month of school from Aug. 24… Read more
Congratulations to the Shiga Lakestars pro basketball team for winning its opening game of the 2009-2010 season on October 3, 2009 against the Kyoto Hannaryz. The score was 82-73 witnessed… Read more
Held only once every 5 years, the Suijo Hachiman Shrine Taiko Odori Dance was held on Sept. 23, 2009 in the neighborhood of Suijo (春照) near the foot of Mt. Ibuki… Read more
The wildly successful and popular Yuru-kyara Matsuri or Mascot Character Festival will be held again in Hikone this year during Oct. 23-25, 2009. The main days will be on the… Read more
Released in Japan on Sept. 12, 2009, Katen no Shiro (火天の城) or Castle Under Fiery Skies is about Okabe Mataemon, a Nagoya (Atsuta)-based master carpenter who in 1576 was ordered… Read more
Those cute little buses you see outside Yokaichi Station and elsewhere in Higashi-Omi, called Chokotto bus, have started collecting used cooking oil from September 1, 2009. Bring an old PET… Read more
Another snafu has erupted between the city of Hikone and Moheron (もへろん), the artist who created Hiko-nyan for Hikone Castle’s 400th anniversary celebration in 2007. You might have noticed some… Read more
A full-length movie filmed in Shiga Prefecture called Satoyama (里山) will be released to theaters in Japan from Aug. 22, 2009. In July, I was invited to a movie screening… Read more