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 46,976 in 20601 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 68 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Takashima is located on the western 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 ...

in the northwestern portion of Shiga Prefecture. The Adogawa and Ishida rivers form alluvial fans in the eastern part of the city on the shores of Lake Biwa, whereas the inland areas rise to the Nosaka and

Hira Mountains The are a mountain range to the west of Lake Biwa on the border of Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The range runs north to south. It is narrowest in the southern part of the range, running east to west, and broadest at the north ...

. The former Makino town region of the city has the Kaizu Osaki, which has been selected as one of Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots, and the area is also well known for its Asian fawn lily colonies. The inland areas of the city are noted for very heavy snow accumulation in winter.

Neighboring municipalities

Fukui Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 737,229 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,190 Square kilometre, km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture border ...

** Mihama **

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

** Ōi **

Tsuruga is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 66,123 in 28,604 households and the population density of 260 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Tsuruga is located in central ...

** Wakasa *

Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture ...

** Nantan **

Sakyō-ku, Kyoto is one of the eleven Wards of Kyoto, wards in the Municipalities of Japan, city of Kyoto, Kyoto, Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is located in the northeastern part of the city. History The meaning of ''sakyō'' (左京) is "on the Em ...

** Nagahama **

Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...

Climate

Takashima 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 Takashima is 13.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1801 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Takashima population statistics
/ref> the population of Takashima has remained relatively steady over the past 60 years.

History

Takashima 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, ...

and has been settled since at least the

Yayoi period The Yayoi period (弥生時代, ''Yayoi jidai'') (c. 300 BC – 300 AD) is one of the major historical periods of the Japanese archipelago. It is generally defined as the era between the beginning of food production in Japan and the emergence o ...

. The

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

Emperor Keitai (died 10 March 531) was the 26th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 継体天皇 (26)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but he is conve ...

was born in what is now Takashima, and there are many burial tumuli within the city limits. The city is located on the shortest route between the Asuka and

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

capitals of Japan and the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

coastline and was thus an important thoroughfare for both domestic and international travel and commerce in the ancient period. It was also the site of a major battle of the

Jinshin War The was a war of succession that took place in the Yamato state near the end of Asuka period. It broke out in 672 following the death of Emperor Tenji. The name refers to the ''jinshin'' (Ch. ''renshen'' 壬申) or ninth year of the sexagenary c ...

. From the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

and into the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

and beyond, the area came under then control of the powerful

Sasaki clan are a historical Japanese clan. History They are descended directly from Emperor Uda (868–897) by his grandson Minamoto no Masazane (920–993) (Uda Genji), but were adopted by the Seiwa Genji. Minamoto no Nariyori, great-grandson of Masaz ...

and was ruled by a cadet branch of the clan, the Takashima clan, from their stronghold at Shimizuyama Castle. The clan was destroyed by

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

in the wars of the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

and after the establishment of the

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 ...

, much of the city area came under the control of the 20,000 ''

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 ...

Ōmizo Domain was a ''Tozama daimyō, tozama'' Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It was located in northwestern Ōmi Province, in the Kansai region of central Honshu. The domain was centered at Ōmizo ''jin'ya'', ...

. The village of Ōmizo was established within

Takashima District, Shiga was a district located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district had an estimated population of 55,348 and a density of 108.24 persons per km2. The total area was 511.36 km2. On January 1, 2005, the former town of Takashima abs ...

with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was elevated to town status on November 1, 1902. After merging with neighboring Takashima and Mizuo villages on April 29, 1943, it was renamed the town of Takashima. On January 1, 2005, Takashima merged with the towns of Adogawa, Imazu,

Makino , commonly known as Makino, is a machine tool builder with global sales and service, headquartered in Japan. History Makino was established in 1937 by Tsunezo Makino in Japan, developing Japan's first numerically controlled (NC) milling machi ...

and Shin'asahi, and the village of Kutsuki (all from Takashima District) to form the city of Takashima.

Government

Takashima 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 18 members. Takashima contributes two members to the Shiga Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of

Shiga 1st district Shiga 1st district (滋賀県第1区, ''Shiga-ken dai-ikku'' or simply 滋賀1区, ''Shiga-ikku'') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the national Diet of Japan. It is located in Western Shiga and ...

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 ...

Economy

The economy of Takashima is centered on agriculture and light manufacturing.

Education

Takashima has 13 public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government. There are two public high schools operated by the Shiga Prefectural Department of Education, and one private high school. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

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, ...

–

Kosei Line The is a commuter rail line in Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line was completed in 1974 by the former Japanese National Railways (JNR) to provide faster access from t ...

* - - - - -

Highway

Meishin Expressway The , or Nagoya-Kōbe Expressway is a toll expressway in Japan. It runs from a junction with the Tōmei Expressway in Komaki, Aichi (outside Nagoya) west to Nishinomiya, Hyōgo (between Osaka and Kobe). It is the main road link between Osaka a ...

* * *

Sister cities

Petoskey, Michigan Petoskey ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Emmet County, Michigan, and is the largest settlement within the county. Petoskey has a population of 5,877 at the 2020 census, up from 5,670 at the 2010 census. Petoskey is part of N ...

, United States, since 1976

Local attractions

* Shimizuyama Castle ruins, National Historic Site * Tōju Shoin, National Historic Site

Notable people

* Kakuzo Kawamoto, politician *

Yasuzo Shimizu was a Japanese educator and Protestant Christian missionary in China. He established the Chongzhen School for the poor in Beijing, and the Obirin University in Tokyo. General Yasuzo Shimizu was born in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, and became a Chris ...

, educator and Christian missionary

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Shiga Prefecture Takashima, Shiga