Introducing Shiga Headlines on Twitter

Happy to announce that I’ve finally opened a Twitter account for shiga-ken.com. It’s called Shiga Headlines and anybody can read my tweets (Twitter posts) without joining Twitter. Shiga Headlines is… Read more

“We love Shiga” banners

I’ve created “We love (heart) Shiga” banners (horizontal and square) for anyone to download and use. Feel free to use them on your Web site, blog, Facebook, business cards, letterheads, etc.… Read more

Hikone Castle video

Video link: http://youtu.be/X2uMzVDwe5I Another video hosted by English-speaking kids. Since two of them were from Hikone, I decided to make a video of Hikone Castle, which I call one of Shiga’s… Read more

Higashi-Omi Giant Kite Museum video

Video link: http://youtu.be/N_B3H6Ym9kw Higashi-Omi in eastern Shiga Prefecture is famous for its giant kite measuring 12 meters by 13 meters. It’s flown on the last Sunday of May at the… Read more
Hikone byobu

Hikone Byobu National Treasure folding screen

Updated: April 25, 2024 Hikone Castle Museum exhibits the Hikone Byobu folding screen (彦根屏風), a National Treasure, every spring usually for a month from mid-April to mid-May. In 2023, the screen… Read more

Water Lilies song by Yoshida Chiaki

Updated: April 27, 2023 My friend in Niigata recently posted this video of a choir singing Hitsuji-gusa or Water Lilies. What’s significant about this obscure song from 1915 is that… Read more

Governor Kada rejects Kyoto merging with Shiga

NHK TV news in Otsu reported an interesting bit of news on Feb. 26, 2013 about the governor of Kyoto stating that he was in favor of merging Kyoto and… Read more

The problem with Facebook

Facebook is the most popular Internet service I’ve ever seen. In the United States, a staggering 7 out of 10 Internet users are on Facebook. Despite the enormous popularity, I… Read more