Kansai, Japan · Town / small city, Lake
An old merchant town on Lake Biwa, with the Hachiman-bori canal explorable by boat between Edo-era warehouses, the traditional Shinmachi street, Himure Hachimangu Shrine, and a 4-minute ropeway to the top of Mt. Hachiman.
Train — Direct JR Biwako Line (Tokaido Main Line) from Kyoto, no transfers: about 35 min on the Shinkaisoku (Special Rapid), ¥680; covered by the Japan Rail Pass and the Kansai WIDE Area Pass. The historic area (Hachiman-bori canal, Shinmachi street, Himure Hachimangu Shrine) is 2-3km from the station: an Ōmi Railway bus (Chōmyō-ji line, ~7 min), the flat-rate 'Akakon' community bus (¥200), or about a 25-30 minute walk.
A roughly 30-minute boat ride along the canal dug in 1585 for Toyotomi Hidetsugu's castle town, past white-walled merchant warehouses still used as a set for period dramas.
A confectionery complex with a grass-covered roof designed by Terunobu Fujimori, set among rice paddies: freshly baked baumkuchen eaten inside a building that looks like a hill.
In mid-March, straw floats decorated with the animal of the zodiac ram into each other through the streets and all end up burning at the same time at night: one of the wildest fire festivals in Japan.
An Omi-merchant quarter with beautifully preserved Edo-to-Meiji era houses, next to Himure Hachimangu Shrine, nearly 1,800 years old and the patron shrine of the Omi merchants themselves.
William Merrell Vories, an American missionary and architect, settled here and left some thirty Western buildings scattered around the town: his memorial house, the old post office and the headquarters of the cooperative he founded.
Stop 31 on the Saigoku pilgrimage, at the top of a stone stairway of 808 steps, with open views over Lake Biwa.
Lake Biwa carp fermented for months in rice: the direct origin of all Japanese sushi. The flavour is very strong and not to everyone's taste, but trying it means understanding where the dish comes from.
From here the omi shonin wove a trading network across the whole of Japan with an ethic of their own ('good for the seller, for the buyer and for society'); their mansions with gardens can be visited inside.
The Biwaichi is the signposted cycling loop around Japan's largest lake; the Omihachiman stretch is about 33 km of flat riding, with electric bike rental at the station.
A 4-minute ride up to the 271.9m summit of Mt. Hachiman, with castle ruins and views over Lake Biwa, the Nishi-no-ko wetlands and the old town itself; also climbable on foot in about 30 minutes.
The only inhabited island on a freshwater lake in Japan: 250 residents, no cars, and the whole of it covered by bicycle in an hour.
One of Japan's historic wagyu, raised here since the Edo period; it is eaten as sukiyaki or grilled in merchant houses converted into restaurants.
Oda Nobunaga's lost castle, the first in Japan with a multi-storey keep, of which only the foundations on the hill remain; a nearby museum reconstructs its gilded floor at full scale.
A 60-80 minute boat ride through the reed marshes and canals of Nishi-no-ko, a landscape protected as Japan Heritage and also used as a backdrop for samurai films.
Every two years, in autumn, the empty merchant houses of the historic quarter fill with international contemporary art installations.
Stop 32 on the same pilgrimage, on Mount Kinugasa, founded according to legend by Prince Shotoku.
The Hachiman roof tile has centuries of history; the museum explains it and offers a clay modelling workshop for children.
An art brut gallery installed in a restored merchant house, one of the most respected inclusive art museums in Japan.
An extremely light summer linen fabric, still made in the district's workshops as it has been for centuries.
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