[From October Issue 2010]

Shiga Prefecture has a lot to boast about. Not only does the area treat visitors to fine food and a collection of impressive historical sites, it also lays claim to the largest lake in Japan – the stunning Like Biwa.

With an area of some 670 square kilometers, Lake Biwa accounts for one sixth of the prefecture’s total area. Since the water from Lake Biwa is used as drinking water for people in the Kinki region’s cities such as Kyoto and Osaka, the lake is known as “The Water Jar of Kinki.”

Many people visit Lake Biwa to enjoy leisure activities such as swimming and boating. You can also sail around the lake on a cruise ship. A short course covering only the southern part of the lake and a course around the northern part, featuring Chikubushima, a small island in the lake, are also popular.

Being rich in nature thanks to the lake and its rivers, Shiga Prefecture produces delicious food. In particular, fish called ayu (sweetfish) and funa (carp) are local specialties of the prefecture and can be enjoyed grilled and sprinkled with salt or as sashimi. But ayu is also tasty as “tsukudani,” where the fish is boiled in soy sauce and sugar. This is very popular as a souvenir.

Funa, on the other hand, is often enjoyed as “funa zushi,” a local specialty of Shiga Prefecture, in which the fish is pickled with a mixture of rice and rice kouji (made by fermenting nuka or bran from polished rice with fungi and other bacteria). Since this dish has a strong smell, however, some people don’t care for it.

Otsu City, where the prefectural government office is located, serves as the gateway to Shiga Prefecture. Since Otsu City is only a 10-minute train ride from Kyoto, many people visit the city while touring Osaka and Kyoto. Boat trips on Lake Biwa start from Otsu Port located in Otsu City. Traveling by train for one hour from Otsu City takes you to Hikone and Nagahama cities, where a number of historic sites are situated.

Nagahama Castle, in the northern part of the prefecture, was built by TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi in 1576. A follower of warlord ODA Nobunaga, who tried to dominate Japan, Hideyoshi succeeded in ruling Japan after Nobunaga’s death. The tenshukaku, the highest part of the castle which also serves as an observation tower, has been restored as a history museum. Also, the grounds of the castle have been developed into Hou Park, which is a place of relaxation for locals.

The road running north-south across the town of Nagahama used to be called the Hokkoku Kaido. Connecting Gifu and Shiga prefectures, it was an important road that was busy with travelers. In the Meiji period (1868~1912), a bank with black walls was built along this road. Today, old stores stand in a row in this area known as “Kurokabe (black wall) Square,” a part of an effort to preserve the traditional landscape from both the late Edo and Meiji periods.

Driving west from Nagahama for about 20 minutes, you can get to Hikone City, where you’ll find Hikone Castle. The castle is also a 10-minute walk from JR Hikone Station. The tenshukaku of Hikone Castle is designated as a National Treasure and famous for its beauty. The 15th lord of the castle, II Naosuke, became the Tairo (Great Elder) of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the late Edo period and led Japan to end its isolation from the outside world, however he was eventually assassinated by people who were opposed Japan opening its borders to the outside world.

The town that flourished around Hikone Castle is now a busy shopping district called Yume Kyobashi Castle Road, where you’ll see many shops selling Japanese sweets and folk crafts. The street is lined with buildings with white walls and black wooden lattices, a scene reminiscent of the Edo period. Here, even banks have been built in a way that allows them to blend in with the surrounding landscape.

There were many other castles in Shiga Prefecture. The stone walls for these castles were constructed by a tribe of people called “Ano-shu.” Ishiku (stone masons) living in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, built the stone walls for Hieizan Enryaku-ji Temple. It is said that Nobunaga set fire to the temple in 1571, killing not only priests but also children. Although the temple was burned down, its stone walls didn’t collapse.

This led Nobunaga to call upon stonemasons of the Ano-shu guild to work as construction workers when building Azuchi Castle. Until then, castles in Japan had neither high stone walls nor a tenshukaku; instead most of them only had low stone walls and mounds of dirt. But after Nobunaga built high stone walls and a tenshukaku for the first time, many new castles followed his lead. In building those castles, the Ano-shu were recognized for their great skills, and were requested to build stone walls across the country.

The precincts of Hieizan Enryaku-ji Temple cover the entire area of the 848-meter Mount Hiei, which lies on the border between Shiga and Kyoto prefectures. Originally, the temple was an iori (a small monastery for Buddhist monks), founded in 788 by Saicho, who introduced the Tendai-shu (a school of Buddhism) to Japan. However, it later became a large temple after many monks came to live there. The main hall of the temple, Konpon Chudo, designated as a National Treasure, houses “the Fumetsu no Hoto” (Everlasting Lamp), which has been continuously burning for 1200 years, attracting numerous of visitors. Historically, it was known as a temple to protect Kyoto, where Gosho (the Imperial Palace) was once located.

On their way to Kyoto, the site of the former capital, many people used to travel through Shiga Prefecture. Still today, the road used in those days remains, with rows of houses standing thoughout the surrounding areas. Shiga Prefecture also has some of the bedroom suburbs for people working in neighboring Kyoto and Osaka.

Shiga Prefecture has good access to public transportation, with JR Otsu Station only two hours away by train from Kansai International Airport or Osaka International Airport (Itami Airport). From Tokyo it takes 3 hours by shinkansen, with a transfer at Kyoto.

Biwako Visitors Bureau
Awata Construction Company, Ano-shu Stone Walls Institute

Text: KANASAKO Sumiko

[2010年10月号掲載記事]

滋賀県には誇れるものがたくさんあります。訪れる人はおいしい食べ物や感動的な史跡の数々を体験できるだけではありません。滋賀には、日本一大きな湖で魅力あふれる琵琶湖があります。

琵琶湖の面積は約670キロ平方メートルあり、滋賀県の全面積の6分の1にあたります。また琵琶湖から流れる水は京都、大阪など近畿地方の人の飲み水として使われているため、琵琶湖は「近畿の水がめ」として知られています。

琵琶湖には水泳、ボートなどレジャーで訪れる人がたくさんいます。客船で琵琶湖を一周するクルージングも楽しめます。琵琶湖の南部だけを回る短いコースや、竹生島を中心にした琵琶湖の北部を巡るコースなども人気があります。

湖や川など自然が多い滋賀県には、おいしい食べ物がたくさんあります。特にアユやフナという魚は、滋賀県の名産品です。塩焼きや刺身で食べることもできますが、アユはしょうゆや砂糖で煮込んだ「佃煮」がおいしく、おみやげにも喜ばれています。

一方、フナは米や米のこうじ（米を精米したときにできるぬかにかびなどの微生物を入れた発酵食品）を混ぜて漬ける「鮒ずし」にして食べます。しかし匂いがきついので、苦手な人もいます。

大津市は滋賀県の県庁があり、滋賀県の玄関口です。京都からは電車で10分と近いので、大阪、京都と一緒に巡る人も多いです。琵琶湖のクルージングは大津市にある大津港から出発しています。さらに大津から電車で１時間で、彦根市や長浜市など史跡が多い場所に行くこともできます。

滋賀県の北部にある長浜城は、1576年に豊臣秀吉が建てた城です。日本を統一しようとしていた戦国武将・織田信長の家来で、信長が死んだ後、秀吉は日本統一を果たしました。現在は天守閣（城の一番高い部分で展望台の役割も果たす）が復元され歴史博物館になっています。また城の跡地は「豊公園」として整備され、市民がくつろぐ場所になっています。

長浜の町を南北に通る道は、「北国街道」と呼ばれていました。岐阜と滋賀をつなぐ重要な街道で、多くの人が行き来し、にぎわいました。この街道沿いに明治時代（1868～1912）に黒壁でつくられた銀行が建てられました。現在では江戸時代後半から明治時代の街並みを残そうと、「黒壁スクエア」として多くの店が建ち並んでいます。

長浜から車で西に20分ほど走ると、彦根市に着きます。ここには彦根城があります。JR彦根駅からも歩いて10分ほどで行けます。彦根城の天守閣は国宝に指定され、美しい姿が有名です。15代目の城主である井伊直弼は、江戸時代の終わりごろ江戸幕府の大老につき日本を開国に導きましたが、開国を反対する人たちに暗殺されてしまいました。

彦根城の城下町として栄えた町は、今は「夢京橋キャッスルロード」という商店街となりにぎわっています。和菓子や民芸品などの店が並んでいます。白壁と黒い格子の建物が並ぶ通りは、まるで江戸時代に戻ったようです。ここでは銀行も景色に調和するように建てられています。

滋賀県にはほかにも多くの城がありました。こういった城の石垣を手がけたのが、「穴太衆」と呼ばれる人々です。滋賀県大津市に住む石工（石を積む職人）たちが比叡山延暦寺の石垣をつくりました。比叡山延暦寺は1571年に信長が火を放ち、僧侶だけでなく子どもの命まで奪ったといわれています。寺は焼けましたが、石垣は崩れずに残っていました。

そこで信長は安土城をつくるときに穴太衆の石工たちを呼び寄せて工事をさせました。それまでの日本の城には高い石垣や天守台はなく、低い石垣と土を盛っただけの城がほとんどだったのです。ところが信長が初めて石垣や天守閣をつくると、その後の多くの城は何層もの天守閣や石垣を取り入れるようになりました。そういった城づくりで穴太衆は高い技術力を認められ、全国各地で石垣づくりを任されていきます。

比叡山延暦寺は、滋賀県と京都府にまたがる標高848メートルの比叡山全域が境内（寺の敷地）になっています。最初は788年に天台宗（仏教のひとつ）を開いた最澄が建てた庵（僧侶が住む小さな家）でしたが、やがて多くの僧が集まって大きな寺になりました。比叡山延暦寺の中心である国宝・根本中堂には1200年間消えることなく灯り続ける「不滅の法灯」があり、多くの人が参拝に訪れます。昔から御所（天皇が住むところ）があった京都を守る寺としても有名です。

滋賀県は、都があった京に向かうために多くの人が通っていきました。今でもそのときの街道が残り、周辺には多くの家が建ち並んでいます。また京都や大阪で働く人たちのベッドタウンにもなっています。

滋賀県は交通の便がよく、関西国際空港や大阪国際空港（伊丹空港）からJRで2時間ほどで大津駅に着きます。東京からは新幹線で約3時間（京都で乗り換え）です。

社団法人びわこビジターズビューロー
株式会社粟田建設穴太衆石積み研究所

文：金廻寿美子