is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Shiga Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 113,229 in 45771 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 290 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Higashiōmi is located in east-central Shiga Prefecture, with a small shoreline the eastern shore of

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan. It is located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13 ...

, and extending inland to the Suzuka Mountains and the border with

Mie Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture an ...

. Parts of the city are within the borders of the

Suzuka Quasi-National Park is a Quasi-National Park in Mie and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. It was established in 1968. Sites of interest * Mount Gozaisho, Suzuka Mountains Related municipalities * Mie: Iga, Inabe, Kameyama, Komono, Suzuka, Yokkaichi * Shiga: ...

Neighboring municipalities

Mie Prefecture * Inabe *

Komono file:Gozaisho Ropeway and Komono Mie.jpg, 260px, Gozaisho Ropeway and Komono in distance is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 41,542 in 16883 households and a population dens ...

Shiga Prefecture * Aishō * Hikone * Hino * Kōka *

Ōmihachiman file:Omihachiman City Hall.jpg, 260px, City Hall file:Hachimanbori07s3200.jpg, 260px, Traditional buildings Preservation Area is a Cities of Japan, city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 82,233 in 3474 ...

Ryūō Ryūō (also Ryu-O, Ryu-oh, Ryuuou; in Japanese: 龍王, 竜王, lit. " Dragon King") is an annual Japanese professional shogi tournament and the title of its winner. The current Ryūō title holder is Sōta Fujii. The Ryūō Tournament (''Ryū ...

* Taga

Climate

Higashiōmi has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Higashiōmi is 12.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1673 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.5 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.1 °C. The highest recorded temperature was 38.8 °C (July 26, 2014) and the lowest was -11.6 °C (January 31, 1982).

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Higashiōmi has recently plateaued after several decades of growth.

History

Higashiōmi is part of ancient

Ōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō Circuit (subnational entity), circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, ...

. Portions of the area were under the control of Yamakami Domain, a 13,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

'' '' fudai'' territory during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

. With the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the town of Yōkaichi was established within Gamō District, Shiga. Yōkaichi merged with the villages of Hirata, Ichinobe, and Tamano in Gamō District, and Misono and Takebe from Kanzaki District and was elevated to city status on August 15, 1954. The city of Higashiōmi was established on February 11, 2005, from the merger of Yōkaichi with the towns of Eigenji and Gokashō (both from Kanzaki District), and the towns of Aitō and Kotō (both from Echi District). On January 1, 2006, the town of Notogawa (from Kanzaki District), and the town of Gamō (from Gamō District) were merged into Higashiōmi.

Government

Higashiōmi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 25 members. Higashiōmi, together with the town of Ryūō, contributes three members to the Shiga Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Shiga 2nd district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

, and is represented by Kenichiro Ueno.

Economy

The economy of Higashiōmi is centered on agriculture and light manufacturing. There are several

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

s in the city.

Murata Manufacturing is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic components, based in Nagaokakyo, Kyoto. It produces ceramic passive electronic components, primarily capacitors, and has a majority marketshare worldwide in ceramic filters, high-frequency parts, and s ...

Kyocera is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational ceramics and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. It manufactures industrial ceramics, solar power genera ...

Panasonic is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Japan. It was founded in 1918 as in Fukushima-ku, Osaka, Fukushima by Kōnosuke Matsushita. The company was incorporated in 1935 and renamed and c ...

Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and ...

and

Toppan is a Japanese global printing company. Toppan was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in Tokyo. History As of March 2013, the company has 169 subsidiary and affiliate (commerce), affiliate companies. Toppan is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exch ...

have large factories in the city.

Education

Higashiōmi has 22 public elementary schools and ten public middle schools operated by the city government. There are five public high schools operated by the Shiga Prefectural Department of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped. The Biwako-Gakuin University, a private's university with associated junior college, is also located in Higashiōmi.

Transportation

Railway

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

– Biwako Line * Ohtetsu Logomark

Ohmi Railway – Main Line * - - - - - - - - Ohtetsu Logomark

Ohmi Railway – Yōkaichi Line * - - - -

Highway

Meishin Expressway * * * *

Local attractions

Eigen-ji is a Buddhist temple in the Eigenji-Takano neighborhood of the city of Higashiōmi, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It is the head temple of one of the 14 autonomous branches of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen History Eigen-ji was founded in 1361 b ...

, noted

Rinzai Zen The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of Cha ...

temple * Hyakusai-ji, noted

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...

temple, National Historic Site * Yōkaichi Kite Festival File:Nakae Jungoro House Kondo-cho Gokasho01s4s4410.jpg, Kondo-cho, Gokasho File:yokaichi01.jpg, Yōkaichi Giant Kite Festival held in May File:240608 Aga-jinja Higashiomi Shiga pref Japan06s3.jpg, Aga-jinja Shrine or Tarobogu Shrine File:Eigen-ji (Rinzai temple).jpg,

Temple

Sister cities

Higashiōmi maintains the following

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

relationships.''Sister Cities and Cultural Exchange City of Higashiomi''
. Higashiomi City Homepage. Retrieved on July 10, 2008. *

Changde Changde (; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 常德區 ) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. Changde, known as "Wuling" in ancient times, is located on the west side of Do ...

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

, China, since August 15, 1994 * Jangam-myeon, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, since November 2, 1992 *

Marquette, Michigan Marquette ( ) is the county seat of Marquette County, Michigan, Marquette County and the largest city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. Located on the shores of Lake Superior, Marquette is a major port known primarily for shippin ...

, United States, since August 13, 1979, renewed 2005 * Rättvik,

Dalarna County Dalarna County () is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden (Svealand). It borders on the counties of Uppsala, Jämtland, Gävleborg, Västmanland, Örebro and Värmland. It also borders on the Norwegian counties of Hedmark and Trøndelag to ...

, Sweden, since November 1, 1994 * Taber, Alberta, Canada, since March 27, 1981 *

Tongyeong Tongyeong (; ) is a coastal Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It has an area of and in 2010, a population of 139,869 people. It is divided into 1 eup (town), 6 myeon (township) and 11 dong (n ...

Gyeongsangnam-do South Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple that ...

, South Korea, since May 26, 2001

Noted people from Higashiōmi

* Tadayoshi Ichida, politician * Mitsunori Okamoto, politician *

Masayoshi Takemura was a Japanese politician. Elected as a representative of the Liberal Democratic Party, in 1993 he broke away to form New Party Sakigake, before joining the newly formed Democratic Party of Japan in 1997. He served as Chief Cabinet Secretary ...

, politician

References

External links

*
Tourist Association website

Giant Kite Festival in Higashiomi

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

(video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Higashiomi, Shiga Cities in Shiga Prefecture Higashiōmi