Experience a quieter and deeper side of Japan at Guesthouse Ko-Rai-Gen, a private temple stay beside a 600-year-old Buddhist temple near Lake Biwa in northern Shiga.

Discover hidden stories of northern Lake Biwa through guided walks, local legends, temple culture, and quiet lakeside landscapes.

The Fire Festival, with a history of nearly 800 years, is a dramatic winter ritual held in Moriyama City, Shiga Prefecture.

One of the most famous SAMURAI lord NOBUNAGA ODA.

Tour Design Ichie Wado specializes in a half-day "Otsu-e" folk art workshop & immersive local culture walk for foreign tourists in Otsu, Shiga. The workshop includes painting a Lucky Oni Bell on an earthenware bell. Alternatively, you could choose to paint the Three Wise Monkeys on a Japanese shikishi.

Eigenji Temple is the head temple of the Eigenji branch and one of the fifteen primary temples of the Rinzai and Obaku sects.

The “Okinahajimeshiki” is a divine service performed at Taga Taisha Shine to greet the gods at the start of the year.

With its connection to the opening poem of the famous collection known as the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, Omi Jingu Shrine plays host to the “Karuta Opening Ceremony,” based in the Japanese card game.

The Nagahama Plum Tree Bonsai Exhibition started in 1952, and has now become the number one plum tree bonsai exhibition in Japan in terms of both history and scale, as well as a much beloved annual springtime tradition in Kansai.

The principle object of worship here is a Buddhist image, normally withheld from public view, of Hobashira Kannon.

In the illuminated Genkyu-en, listen to the sound of insects and enjoy the gentle passage of time in a manner impossible in any city.

This is the house of the Suwa family, which in early modern times was the the ojoya (“village headman”).

This temple has been responsible for the safety of travel on the waters of Lake Biwa since the Azuchi Momoyama period.

More than 2,000 lanterns create an illusory and ethereal world inside the temple grounds.

In the Heian Period (794 – 1185), the Saio (Princess) travelled from Heian-kyo (modern Kyoto) to Ise in order to become a priestess at the shrine there.

A “Sentoe” lantern festival is held in order to pray for wishes to be fulfilled.