was a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

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 ...

. As of 2003, the district has 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 21,964 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of 306.20 persons per km². The total area is 71.73 km².

History

*1868 (

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

) – The shogunate territories in the district become part of Ōtsu Prefecture ''(Ōtsu-ken)'' *1871 (

Abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lords) ...

) – All feudal domains ''(-han)'', including those containing territories in the district, become prefectures ''(-ken)''. *1871/72 – In the first wave of prefectural mergers, the entire district becomes part of Ōtsu Prefecture which is then renamed to Shiga after the district *1878/79 – The ancient districts of provinces are reactivated as modern administrative units as districts of prefectures: the district government of Shiga is established in Ōtsu-Hashimoto-chō (?, 大津橋本町) Shiga Shiga-gun 1889

*1/4/1889 (establishment of municipalities & Great Meiji mergers) - The "Town and Village Code" (町村制, ''chō-son-sei''), the new law establishing

towns A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and

villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

as modern political units, was implemented. As a result, the town of Ōtsu and the villages of Shiga (滋賀村, ''Shiga-mura'', "Shiga Village"), Zeze, Ishiyama, Sakamoto, Shimosakamoto, Ogoto, Katata, Ōgi, Mano, Ikadachi, Katsuragawa, Wani, Kido and Komatsu were formed. *1/4/1898 - The "District Code" (郡制, ''gun-sei''), the revised law governing districts, was implemented, establishing indirectly elected district assemblies ''(gun-kai)'' and collective executive councils ''(gun-sanjikai)''. *1/10/1898 - Ōtsu Town (大津町, ''Ōtsu-chō'') became

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 ...

: district-independent] Ōtsu City (大津市, ''Ōtsu-shi''). *20/7/1901 - **The village of Zeze became the town of Zeze. **The village of Katata became the town of Katata. *1/4/1923 - The district assembly was abolished. The district office remains. *1/7/1926 - The district government was abolished, reducing the district (again) to a geographical division. *1/1/1930 - The village of Ishiyama became the town of Ishiyama. *10/5/1932 - The village of Shiga merged into the city of Ōtsu. *1/4/1951 - The towns of Zeze and Ishiyama merged with the city of Ōtsu into the new city of Ōtsu. *1950s (Great Shōwa mergers) **1/4/1955 - The town of Katata and the villages of Ōgi, Mano, Ikadachi and Katsuragawa merged into the town of Katata. **1/10/1955 - The villages of Wani, Kido and Komatsu merged into Shiga Town (志賀町, ''Shigachō''). **30/9/1956 - Part of the town of Shiga (Kamogawa) merged into the town of Takashima from Takashima District. *1/4/1967 - The village of Katata merged into the city of Ōtsu. *20/3/2006 - The town of Shiga merged into the city of Ōtsu. Shiga District was dissolved as a result of this merger.

Transition

Light blue autonomies are Shiga District's town, deep blue autonomies are Shiga District's village, and gray autonomies are others. {{Authority control Former districts of Shiga Prefecture