This web page gives basic info about the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival, the April 2026 festival schedule (illustrated), and a synopsis of the four kabuki plays performed by the four Hikiyama floats in 2026. Most images are screenshots from the comprehensive video (embedded above).

Updated: April 14, 2026

Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri (長浜曳山祭) is a traditional float festival held annually on several days centering on April 15 by Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine in the city of Nagahama in northern Shiga Prefecture not far from Kyoto, Nagoya (Aichi), and Tsuruga (Fukui).

The main highlight is child kabuki actors (boys age 5 to 12) performing famous kabuki plays on four ornate wooden floats (hikiyama) pulled through the city’s main streets. Each hikiyama float has a small stage. They perform in public on four consecutive days. So if you can’t make it on one day or if the weather is bad, see it on a different day.

In 2026, the following four kabuki floats will appear out of the festival’s twelve kabuki floats.

• Float No. 1: Tokiwa-zan (常磐山)
• Float No. 2: Kujaku-zan (孔雀山)
• Float No. 3: Okina-zan (翁山)
• Float No. 4: Banzai-ro (萬歳樓)

What to know about Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri

• Festival dates to see child kabuki performances are April 13, 14, 15, and 16. The main day is April 15. Festival dates remain the same every year regardless of the day of the week.
• The festival has a total of twelve kabuki floats, but only four of them appear in the festival to perform child kabuki. There’s also a ceremonial float (no kabuki) that appears every year.
• Three groups of four kabuki floats take turns appearing in the festival each year, so each float and group appear (performs kabuki) once every three years. To see all twelve floats, you will need to see the festival at least three years in a row.
• Each float performs kabuki three or four times each day. So you have a choice of seeing up to 16 kabuki performances a day at multiple sites. This makes it easy to see all four child kabuki plays in a day.
• Each kabuki play is 40 minutes long.
• The main festival day of April 15 (Honbi 本日) is when kabuki is performed for the gods at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine. Kabuki is held all day from morning to evening at multiple locations. A few processions and ceremonies are also held.
• The four floats are numbered from 1 to 4, as decided by drawing lots on April 13. Float No. 1 performs first and has the honor to host the Sanbaso prayer dancer who performs first. Float No. 4 performs last on the main festival day.
• Besides child kabuki performances, there is a variety of rituals and processions. See the festival schedule below.
• The main festival sites are Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine (map), Otemon-Kurokabe area, and the Otabisho parking lot (map) near Hokoku Shrine. See the main festival map.
• The floats also perform kabuki in their respective neighborhoods on April 13, 14, and 16. See the festival map for their locations.
• All the festival sites are within walking distance from JR Nagahama Station on the JR Hokuriku Line. Easy day trip from Kyoto, Nagoya, Gifu, Tsuruga, or Fukui.
• The festival is held by Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine.
• Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri was inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as one of the 33 “Yama, Hoko, and Yatai float festivals in Japan” on Dec. 1, 2016.
• If you want to know how the festival started, jump to the history section.
• Official website: https://nagahama-hikiyama.or.jp/foreign/eng.html
• Festival pamphlet in Japanese: https://nagahama-hikiyama.or.jp/web/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/down2026brochure.pdf

CONTENTS

• Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri Festival 2026 Basic Schedule
• 2026 Nagahama Hikiyama Festival floats and kabuki plays (synopsis)
  Tokiwa-zan | Banzai-ro | Okina-zan | Kujaku-zan
• About Nagahama Hikiyama floats
• Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri Festival 2026 Detailed Schedule
  April 13 | April 14 | April 15 (Main day) | April 16
• About the Sanbaso dancer
• Map of float procession route
• Tips for seeing the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival
• Origin of Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri Festival
• More info

2026 Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri Festival Basic Schedule

The following events are open to the public. Kabuki performance dates and times in red. Scheduled times are all approximate.

April 9th–12th (Hadaka-mairi)

• 7:30 pm: Hadaka-mairi water splashing prayers at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine and Hokoku Shrine (裸参り). Really fun to watch. Details here.

April 12 (Mikoshi procession)

• 6:30 pm: Portable shrine (mikoshi) procession from Nagahama Hachimangu to Hokoku Shrine and the Otabisho rest place (神輿渡御). Details here.

April 13 (Evening kabuki in neighborhoods)

• 6:00 pm or 7:00 pm: Child kabuki evening performances in local neighborhoods (十三日番). Details here.

April 14 (Morning kabuki, floats assemblage, and evening procession)

• 9:00 am to 1:00 pm: Child kabuki morning performances in local neighborhoods. Details here.
• 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm: All four kabuki floats move to and gather at Nagahama Hachimangu (登り山). Details here.
• 3:30 pm: Naginata float arrives at Otabisho.
• 7:00 pm: Child kabuki evening procession (yuwatari) from Nagahama Hachimangu to Hikiyama Museum (役者夕渡り). Details here.

April 15 (Main day) Details here

• 8:30 am: Morning kabuki procession and arrival at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine (役者朝渡り).
• 8:55 am: Naginata Sword Procession arrival at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine (長刀組太刀渡り).
• 9:05 am: Festival opening ceremony with naginata sword (長刀組翁招き).
• 9:20 am to 1:35 pm: Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine child kabuki performances by four floats in succession (狂言執行). After the 40-min. performance, each float gives three more performances as it moves through Otemon Arcade and reaches the Otabisho. Details here
• 11:25 am to 5:05 pm: Otemon Arcade child kabuki performances by four floats.
• 3:25 pm to 7:40 pm: Otabisho child kabuki performances by four floats.
• 8:00 pm: At the Otabisho, religious ceremony, portable shrine parade, and departure of all floats.

April 16 (Kabuki in neighborhoods)

• 9:30 am to 8:40 pm: Child kabuki performances all day in local neighborhoods. Details here.

Second Sat. of October (Oct. 10, 2026)

• 9:00 am–4:00 pm: At Hikiyama Museum, exhibited floats are replaced. Details here.

2026 Nagahama Hikiyama Festival floats and kabuki plays

In April 2026, the following four Nagahama Hikiyama floats will appear and perform the following kabuki plays (order to be determined later). I also provide a synopsis of each kabuki play below.

Understanding the kabuki plays may take some effort and background knowledge. Of course even if you don’t understand anything, you can just enjoy watching the costumes, acting, and theatrics and admire the beautiful floats.
*As of this writing, the Float numbers have not been set yet. Have to wait until April 13 when they draw lots. Official Japanese website will announce it.

• Float No. 1: Tokiwa-zan “Forever Unchanging Float” (常磐山) (呉服町組)
  At Gappo’s Hermitage
  Sesshū Gappō-ga-Tsuji (摂州合邦辻 合邦庵室の場)
  
• Float No. 2: Kujaku-zan “Peacock Float” (孔雀山) (神戸町組)
  Ichijo Okura
  Ichijo Okura (一条大蔵譚)
  
• Float No. 3: Okina-zan “Venerable Old Man’s Float” (翁山) (伊部町組)
  Scene at the Former Hagi Palace
  Meiboku Sendai Hagi Goten-no-ba (伽羅先代萩 御殿の場)
  
• Float No. 4: Banzai-ro “Eternal Life Float” (萬歳樓) (瀬田町組)
  The Heike and the Island of Women – Shunkan
  Heike Nyogo no Shima – Shunkan (平家女護島 俊寛)

Float No. 1: Tokiwa-zan

Sesshū Gappō-ga-Tsuji (摂州合邦辻 合邦庵室の場) – At Gappo’s Hermitage (Tokiwa-zan)

Gappo Doshin was a son of a daimyo lord, but now a poor man living in a hermitage. His daughter Tamate Gozen became the second wife of Lord Takayasu Saemon. Saemon was the daimyo lord of Kawachi Province in eastern Osaka.

Saemon had two sons. One was Shuntokumaru who was his heir and legitimate son. His other son was Jiromaru born to a concubine. Jiromaru wanted to kill Shuntokumaru and take over the family estate.

Tamate Gozen was the stepmother to both sons, but she was in love with stepson Shuntokumaru. She once gave Shuntokumaru some sake to pledge her love for him in secret. But she poisoned the sake, causing him to become blind and a leper.

Shuntokumaru flees his home with his fiancée Princess Asaka and takes shelter at Gappo’s hermitage. Tamate Gozen follows him and forces her way inside to meet Shuntokumaru. Her father Gappo becomes angry and stabs her with a sword.

With her dying breath, Tamate Gozen reveals that her illicit love and the poisoning were to protect Shuntokumaru from Jiromaru. It made Shuntokumaru leave his home, away from Jiromaru. She also explains that drinking her blood can cure Shuntokumaru. Having saved him, she then dies happy.

Reference: https://www.kabuki21.com/gappo.php

Float No. 2: Kujaku-zan

Ichijo Okura (一条大蔵譚) (Kujaku-zan)

This story takes place in 12th century Kyoto when the Genji and Heike samurai clans were fighting each other to rule Japan. During the Heiji Rebellion, Lady Tokiwa Gozen lost her husband Minamoto no Yoshitomo, the head of the Genji clan. Taira no Kiyomori, the head of the enemy Heike Clan, forced her to become his concubine in exchange for sparing the lives of her three sons.

Tokiwa Gozen was later allowed to marry Ichijo Okura Naganari, Kiyomori’s samurai retainer. Okura actually favored the Genji, but acted like an imbecile to seem harmless to the Heike. Tokiwa Gozen lived in Okura’s residence and played archery every night.

Minamoto no Yoshitomo’s loyal retainer Yoshioka Kijiro and his wife Okyo sneak into Okura’s residence and interrogates Tokiwa Gozen, even beating her. However, when they find out that Tokiwa Gozen actually wanted the Heike Clan to be overthrown, they apologize. Their conversation was overheard by Yatsurugi Kageyu, Okura’s chief retainer and a Heike Clan insider.

As Kageyu hurried to inform Kiyomori about Tokiwa Gozen’s true allegiance, Kijiro tries to stop him, but someone from behind the sliding door stabs him. Of all people, it was Okura, the imbecile who held a long sword. Okura actually wanted to restore the Genji Clan to power, but kept his true intentions a secret from the Heike by acting like an imbecile. Okura had trained in Kiichi Hōgen combat techniques.

Okura praised Tokiwa Gozen for prioritizing her children’s safety despite being seen as unfaithful. Okura entrusts Kijiro and Okyo with the Genji Clan’s most prized treasure, the Tomokirimaru sword. He then beheads Kageyu, and laughs loudly saying, “Do this with Kiyomori’s head.” He becomes his imbecile self again.

Reference: https://www.kabuki21.com/okura_monogatari.php

Float No. 3: Okina-zan

The Palace Scene from Meiboku Sendai Hagi (伽羅先代萩 御殿の場) (Okina-zan)

This story is about loyalty and sacrifice by a nursemaid named Masaoka taking care of young Tsuruchiyo, the new daimyo lord in northeastern Japan. Masaoka also has a son the same age named Senmatsu. The three of them live at the lord’s palace.

However, family enemies such as Lady Sakae Gozen, Oki-no-i, and Yashio plotted to poison Tsuruchiyo and take over the samurai domain. So Masaoka prepared Tsuruchiyo’s meals herself. But this took time, so both Lord Tsuruchiyo and son Senmatsu were hungry. Senmatsu famously said: “Even if I am hungry, I do not feel it.”

Masaoka tells her son Senmatsu to be ready to sacrifice himself and eat Tsuruchiyo’s food if it looked poisoned.

Lady Sakae Gozen then visits the palace to give some sweets for Tsuruchiyo. She insists that he eat them. Senmatsu then rushes in and eats the sweets, pretending to be Tsuruchiyo. He suffers from the poison, and Yashio kills him with a dagger to cover up the plot. His mother Masaoka remains calm and convinces the plotters that she is an ally.

She is entrusted with an important document listing the names of the plotters. Masaoka later goes to Senmatsu’s body to praise and mourn him.

Reference: https://www.kabuki21.com/takenoma_goten_yukashita.php

Float No. 4: Banzai-ro

The Heike and Nyogo-no-shima Island of Women – Shunkan (平家女護島 俊寛) (Banzai-ro)

Priest Shunkan is living a miserable life of exile on Kikai Island together with Naritsune and Yasuyori, the fellow plotters of their failed revolt against Japanese ruler Taira no Kiyomori. It’s a far cry from their former lives of luxury.

Meanwhile, Naritsune has fallen in love with Chidori, a woman shellfish diver on the island. Priest Shunkan conducts a simple wedding ceremony for them with a traditional toast using mountain water instead of sake.

Then they see a ship bringing an Imperial messenger named Senoo Taro Kaneyasu who announces an Imperial order pardoning both Naritsune and Yasuyori, but not Shunkan who is shocked.

A second messenger Tanzaemon Motoyasu reveals that since Shunkan was the leader of the plot to overthrow Kiyomori, Shunkan is given a lesser pardon of being allowed to only return to his hometown of Bizen.

Shunkan is overjoyed at the good news and the three men and Chidori go to the boat to leave the island. However, Kaneyasu says that he has orders to take only three persons and refuses to take Chidori.

Naritsune says he would rather remain with his wife Chidori on the island in poverty than return to the capital without her. But he is forced to board, leaving Chidori behind. Shunkan begs Kaneyasu for leniency, but Kaneyasu refuses.

Then Kaneyasu adds to Shunkan’s grief by telling him that his wife Azumaya killed herself rather than becoming Kiyomori’s concubine. Enraged, Shunkan snatches Kaneyasu’s sword and kills him.

He then urges Chidori to board to join Naritsune, telling Tanzaemon that, by killing Kaneyasu, his pardon must now be considered null and that he must remain in exile. However, since the government order is to take back three persons, Chidori must go in his place.

The young couple and Yasuyori bid him farewell. As the ship sails away, Shunkan is left with the mooring rope slipping through his hands. From the top of a rock, Shunkan waves desperately to the ship which vanishes over the horizon.

Reference: https://www.kabuki21.com/shunkan.php

About Nagahama Hikiyama floats

Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri has 12 floats with a kabuki stage and one “guardian” float named Naginata-yama with no stage. The floats Each float belongs to a neighborhood in Nagahama. They come with festival musicians called shagiri.

Most of the floats were first built in the 18th and 19th centuries. They have been repaired and renovated as necessary, so they don’t look that old. They are very ornate with woodcarvings, metalwork, lacquered wood, paintings, and tapestries. “Art museum on wheels,” as they say in Japanese.

Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri Festival 2026 Detailed Schedule

Here is a detailed schedule of Nagahama Hikiyama Festival events in 2026 (times are approximate, and delays may occur). Also see the festival map toward the end of this post. Most photos are screenshots from my video embedded above. Click on the photo to see the respective video segment.

April 9: Senko-ban Visitation (線香番)

Senko-ban visitation has festival officials visiting the four floats’ kabuki practice halls in the evening to watch a kabuki rehearsal and time the performance. Before clocks were invented, they used a burning incense stick (senko) to measure the kabuki play’s length. This is also when the parents see their sons perform for the first time. However, the actors do not wear the makeup and costumes yet. This ceremony is not open to the public since the practice hall will be filled with the boys’ parents and relatives.

April 9–12: Hadaka-mairi Shrine Worship (裸参り)

For hadaka-mairi from 7:30 p.m. every night from April 9 to 12, scantily-clad young men (wakashu 若衆) from the four floats gather at their respective kabuki practice hall and parade to Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine where they pray and purify themselves by running around a well and splashing themselves with the cold well water.

They pray for a successful festival, healthy actors, and to draw a favorable lot on April 13 that determines the order of the floats’ performances. They all want to be Float No. 1 which performs first and goes home first on April 15 (main day).

From Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine, they march through Otemon-dori shopping arcade to Hokoku Shrine across town where they pray and splash in a well again.

On their last worshipping day on April 12, Otemon-dori shopping arcade has festival musicians and representatives from non-performing floats (i.e. those not performing in the festival this year) to greet the wakashu men. They play festival music (called shagiri 囃子) and offer cups of sake (rice wine) to the wakashu leaders and Kujitori-nin. They shout “Yoisa! Yoisa!” the whole time and drink a lot of sake. This is when to see hadaka-mairi.

You will notice that they wear different colored headbands. The young man wearing a red headband is the Kujitori-nin (籤取り人) who will draw the lot at the lot-drawing ceremony on April 13. The men wearing a blue headband are the guards (警護) who direct the wakashu. The men with a white headband are the rank and file. When a float’s wakashu pass by another float’s wakashu, a scuffle may break out since they are rivals in drawing lots. Quite a spectacle at both shrines and in-between.

April 12: Portable Shrine Procession (Mikoshi togyo 神輿渡御)

On April 12 from 6:30 pm, men carry a mikoshi portable shrine from Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine to the Otabisho rest place across town while shouting, “Yoisa!” They go through the Otemon-dori arcade and a few side streets. Along the way, festival musicians from other floats greet the portable shrine (no sake is served). 

Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri’s festival music is called shagiri (しゃぎり) instead of hayashi (囃子). The portable shrine was made in 1676 by Fujioka Kanbe’e (藤岡甚兵衛) with donations from shrine parishioners. The Fujioka family was a renown woodcarver and Buddhist altar maker in Nagahama.

The portable shrine brings the deity closer to the people and chases away evil spirits. They occasionally raise the portable shrine to wish happiness and safety to the people around it. The portable shrine arrives at the Otabisho at about 7:30 pm. The Otabisho is a rest place for the god traveling in a portable shrine. The portable shrine remains in the Otabisho until April 15 evening.

March–April: Kabuki practice (Closed to public)

If you can watch the boys practice kabuki, you will come to appreciate how much work it takes to put on a kabuki play. Sometimes they even break down and cry.

Kabuki practice at Kujaku-zan and Tokiwa-zan in 2016.

The kabuki play is directed by three instructors called San’yaku (三役): The choreographer, tayu narrator, and shamisen player. The choreographer casts the actors’ (yakusha) roles usually according to their physical attributes. The choreographer is usually an experienced kabuki actor and directs the actors’ movements and voice. The tayu narrates the story in a highly stylized manner like in kabuki. The shamisen player provides the only music played during the kabuki performance.

Since 1990, the Nagahama Hikiyama Cultural Association (長浜曳山文化協会) has been working to train local artists to become tayu narrators and shamisen players in the festival. In 2016, for the first time, all four floats had at least one locally-trained tayu narrator or shamisen player. Previously, they were all from outside Shiga.

Each performing float also publishes its own festival program booklet or brochure introducing the float and kabuki actors in Japanese. (If it has English, it’s usually not very good.)

April 13

The main events on April 13 are the lot-drawing ceremony and the first kabuki performances in full costume for the public held in the evening.

Taiko Drum Call (起し太鼓)
Before dawn: At all float neighborhoods, a small team walk around and beat a taiko drum as a wakeup call.

Sacred Staff Receiving Ceremony (御幣迎えの儀)
7:00 a.m.: Representatives (including the Sacred Staff Messenger age 5–7) from the four floats go to Nagahama Hachimangu to receive their sacred staff (gohei zigzag paper streamers) to be mounted on their floats.

Lot-Drawing Ceremony (Kujitori-shiki 籤取り式の儀)
1:00 p.m.: This ceremony is held to draw lots to determine the order of the four floats’ kabuki performances. Being Float No. 1 is most desirable since they get to perform first on April 15 (main festival day) and can end early and go home early at the ned of the day. They also have the honor to host the Sanbaso prayer dancer who performs before their kabuki play.

At Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine, four unmarried lads representing the four floats wear a red headband (like they did at the Hadaka-mairi) and sit in front of the shrine priest inside the worship hall. They are the lot drawers (Kujitori-nin).

Four pieces of paper are written with float numbers one to four. Each piece of paper is crumpled into a ball and placed on a tray as a lot to be drawn. There is a tray for each lot, and each lot drawer selects and carries back a tray. While sitting together, they all open their paper lots at the same time to see who is Float No. 1, 2, 3, and 4.

The Lot-drawing ceremony is not for the public since the shrine’s worship hall is too small to allow the public inside to see the ceremony. However, you can see them from outside celebrating (throwing the lot drawer into the air, etc.).

April 13 Kabuki Performance (十三日番)

April 13 Kabuki Performance (十三日番)
6:00 p.m. to around 7:30 p.m.: The four floats hold their first public kabuki performances in full makeup and costume in their respective neighborhoods. They will start at 6:00 pm or 7:00 pm, depending on the float. (For exact performance times and locations, see the official festival guide book in Japanese or ask the tourist information desk at Nagahama Station.) Each float will perform kabuki only once or twice this evening.

In case of rain, the float will be covered with a tarp or moved to the shopping arcade for shelter.

About the Sanbaso dancer

Float No. 1 receives the honor of hosting the Sanbaso dancer. The Sanbaso dances on Float No. 1 before the float’s kabuki play and he is the first performer on April 15 (main festival day) at the shrine. He holds a bell tree shaped like a ripe rice plant and performs prayer dances for a rich harvest.

The Sanbaso performs two short dance segments. The first segment is Momi-no-dan (stomping segment) where he waves his sleeves and stomps on the ground like he is preparing the ground for planting. He also does the “crow jump” (karasu-tobi) by jumping three consecutive times.

The second segment is Suzu-no-dan (bell segment) when the Sanbaso shakes his bell tree and mimes the planting and growing of rice. His costume has a crane design and his high cap has tiger stripes and a red sun on both sides.

The Sanbaso is a well-known dancer in Noh and kabuki. He comes from a Noh prayer dance called Okina (翁) dating from the 14th century as a religious ritual. Okina has three dancers praying for longevity, peace, endless joy, prosperity, and rich harvests. Sanbaso is the third dancer in Okina which is traditionally performed on auspicious and celebratory occasions like New Year’s and at the beginning of the day’s Noh or kabuki program. This is why he always appears first on the main festival day.

The Sanbaso dances each time the float performs during the festival days. The boy playing the Sanbaso is recruited from the public in Nagahama and he is around age 10. He has his own choreographer, tayu narrator, and shamisen player. Ciick here to see the Sanbaso video clip.

April 14 (Morning kabuki)

April 14, the day before the main festival day, is also a busy day. Lots to see/photograph.

Kabuki Performance in Local Neighborhoods (自町狂言)
April 14, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm: Morning performances of kabuki plays are held by the four floats in their respective neighborhoods. The floats perform once or twice in the morning. For exact times and locations, see the official festival guide book in Japanese or ask the tourist information desk at Nagahama Station.

Floats Proceeding to Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine (Noboriyama 登り山)

April 14, 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm: After they finish their morning kabuki performances, the four floats proceed from their neighborhoods to Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine. Float No. 4 arrives at the shrine first, followed by the others in reverse numerical order.

All four floats arrive at the shrine by 4:30 p.m. It’s a spectacle to watch them pull the floats through the streets and the shopping arcade as they shout “Yoisa! Yoisa!” It’s a stop-and-go process.

Meanwhile, the Naginata-yama float is pulled from its storehouse across town and arrives at the Otabisho rest place at 3:30 p.m. It is the only float that does not go to the shrine.

About the Naginata-yama “Long Sword Float” (長刀山／小舟町組)

The Naginata-yama float is the only float with no kabuki stage. It’s an Imperial-style carriage with only three wheels. Carries banners and long swords. A ceremonial and “festival guardian” float appearing every year on April 14-15 only at the Otabisho.

On April 15, it will arrive 10:00 am at the Otabisho. It does not go to Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine. Built in 1775 with Chinese lion sculptures on four sides. It’s a nice float, but does not attract the crowds. It’s a quiet float.

After the Sword Procession on April 15, red banners are hoisted on the float. Before Float No. 1 arrives at the Otabisho in the late afternoon, Naginata-yama’s red banners are replaced by white ones bearing the Minamoto Clan’s crest.

The float’s caretaker is the Naginata-gumi association from the lakeside Kobuna-machi neighborhood (小舟町 now in Asahi-cho) where Minamoto Yoshiie landed for his victory march to Nagahama Hachimangu.

Evening Kabuki Procession (Yu-watari 夕渡り)

April 14, 7:00 p.m.: Evening procession of all the child kabuki actors in full costume walking from Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine to Nagahama Hikiyama Museum through Otemon-dori shopping arcade. A real crowd pleaser for locals and tourists alike.

It starts with kabuki actors from Float No. 4, then No. 3, 2, and 1. Occasionally, the actor will stop and pose for photographers.

Each actor is escorted by an adult relative (usually the father) holding a paper lantern and wooden placard indicating the actor’s name, age, and kabuki character. The procession includes festival musicians (no floats).

All the kabuki actors (and stagehands) are treated like royalty during the festival. They receive gifts from relatives and friends and are very much pampered by their parents for undertaking such a difficult and rigorous task of kabuki acting. (A few of them even do it more than once.)

The mothers have to make sure they don’t get sick or catch cold. This childhood experience stays with them for life and many of them come back to Nagahama to help out with the festival.

In recent years, the floats have had difficulty recruiting kabuki actors (and musicians) since there are fewer kids in their neighborhoods.

April 15 (Main festival day)

April 15: Main festival day (Honbi 本日)
The festival’s peak day with kabuki performances here and there in central Nagahama from 9:20 am to 7:40 pm. The four floats start at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine where they perform in succession. This is their most important performance since it is for the gods.

Then they move through the Otemon shopping arcade until they all reach the Otabisho rest place. Each float performs three more times at different locations along the way (see map below).

Note that the floats can be prone to be late (especially in the evening), so the time schedule is only approximate.

If you live in central Nagahama, you might hear the Taiko Drum Call (起し太鼓) before dawn in the floats’ neighborhoods.

April 15 Events at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine (Times are approximate.)
7:00 a.m.: Spring Festival Ceremony (春季大祭). A religious ceremony, not really for tourists.

April 15, 8:30 a.m.: Morning Kabuki Procession Arrival (Asa-watari 朝渡り) of child kabuki actors arrive at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine. If you are near the shrine at around 8:00 am, you may see the colorful processions heading to the shrine.

Sword Procession (Tachi-watari 太刀渡り)

April 15, 8:55 a.m.: Sword Procession (Tachi-watari 太刀渡り) of sword bearers arrives at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine after going through Otemon-dori arcade. They leave their neighborhoods at 8:00 am.

Led by a golden sacred staff, this procession reenacts the Hikiyama Matsuri’s original samurai procession before floats were added. Young men (wakashu) wear ceremonial aprons (similar to sumo wrestlers) and young boys wear samurai armor and a long naginata sword (2–3 meters long).

They depict Minamoto no Yoshiie’s victory march to the shrine after he won the Gosannen War (1080s) in the Tohoku Region. Minamoto no Yoshiie was a famous samurai who founded Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine in 1069.

By the 16th century, Nagahama Hachimangu was ravaged by civil war, so Nagahama Castle Lord Toyotomi Hideyoshi moved and rebuilt the shrine at its present location further inland. He also used his own samurai retainers to restart the shrine’s annual festival procession dedicated to Minamoto no Yoshie. This was how the festival originated before floats and child kabuki were added.

The Sword Procession is conducted by the Naginata-gumi group which also pulls the Naginata-yama float. It has the Matajirohama beach (又次郎浜) where Minamoto no Yoshie landed for his victory march to the shrine.

After resting at the shrine for a short period, the Sword Procession goes to the Otabisho to mount their long swords on the Naginata-yama float.

Okina Maneki (翁招き) opening ritual

April 15, 9:05 a.m.: Okina Maneki (翁招き) is an opening ritual held in front of Float No. 1 to mark the start of kabuki performances. A long bamboo pole attached with a wooden placard is waved to the shrine and to Float No. 1 as a signal to start the festival and the festival music (flute) begins. 

Float No. 1 is then moved into position for the first kabuki performance (opening with the Sanbaso dancer).

Kabuki performances at the shrine

9:20 a.m.–1:35 p.m.: Kabuki at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine (Hono kyogen 奉納狂言) has the four floats perform kabuki at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine in succession starting with Float No. 1. These performances are dedicated to the gods. Each kabuki play is about 40 min. long.

Although watching the kabuki is impressive without even understanding it, you would enjoy it more if you knew the kabuki story. Most of the kabuki plays are well known and you may be able to find an English description online. Sometimes the kabuki play includes something about Nagahama or Shiga or Kansai Region. For 2026, you can read my English synopsis of the four kabuki plays above.

After a float finishes a kabuki performance, it leaves the shrine and goes to the next performance location on the way to the Otabisho. The next float is then moved into position in the shrine to give its kabuki performance. So there is a break time between performances.

If you want to see all the kabuki plays on the four floats, one option is to stay at the shrine to see all of them. But it’s standing room only, so you may get tired standing for that long. There is paid seating, but they require advance tickets (costing a few thousand yen) sold in Feb. and usually sell out quickly. If you sit on the ground, you won’t be able to see the float since everyone is standing in front of you.

You can just watch one or two floats at the shrine, take a break, and watch the other floats at other locations and times. For kabuki performance times at the shrine and elsewhere, see the table below. All four floats will also perform at the Otabisho later in the afternoon and evening (also standing room only).

Each float has five or six kabuki actors and one or two stagehands. There used to be more actors like 10 or more per float, but there are fewer kids now. It’s also quite expensive to rent the kabuki costumes. Since each kabuki float performs every three years, that’s how long they have to raise money for the festival.

After performing at the shrine, each float will move across town mainly along Otemon-dori road (Kanaya Park, Otemon-dori shopping arcade, Kurokabe Square, etc.) to the Otabisho rest place. Along the way, they will stop and perform kabuki three more times with the last performance at the Otabisho by Float No. 4 ending at 7:40 p.m. Everything is within walking distance.

*The order of the floats’ performances is decided on April 13 by the Kuji-tori ceremony (籤取り式の儀) where they draw lots to see which float is No. 1, 2, 3, or 4.

The map below has a red line indicating the float route on April 15 and the kabuki performance spots along the way. To enlarge the map, click here.

April 15 Otabisho Events

The Otabisho (御旅所) is a small shrine building in a large parking lot near Hokoku Shrine (short walk from JR Nagahama Station). It is where the portable shrine rests during its journey away from Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine. It’s only about 900 meters between Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine and the Otabisho.

The time schedule below is only approximate. Delays may occur. If you are visiting on a day trip and plan to stay until the end, be sure to check the time of your last train home.

April 15, 3:25 p.m.–7:40 p.m.: Successive kabuki performances are held by the four floats as they arrive at the Otabisho one by one. Float No. 1 will arrive first and start performing kabuki at 3:25 p.m. The last float (Float No. 4) is scheduled to finish its kabuki performance at 7:40 p.m.

The kabuki actors are whisked home right after their performance. They don’t stick around for the latter events. They are exhausted and need to sleep and be ready for the next day.

April 15, 8:00 p.m.: Portable Shrine Procession (Mikoshi togyo 神輿渡御)

After all the floats finish performing at the Otabisho, a short Shinto ceremony is held in the Otabisho building with shrine priests.

Then the portable shrine that was brought to the Otabisho on April 12 is taken out and carried around the Otabisho parking lot a few times before it returns to Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine. Note that it can get chilly this late in the evening, so dress warmly.

Returning Floats (戻り山)

At around 8:30 p.m., the floats start to leave the Otabisho to return to their neighborhoods. Naginata-yama is always the first float to leave, followed by Float No. 1 and the other three floats in order.

The last Float No. 4 might leave pretty late. The floats go back to their neighborhoods. If you came to Nagahama by train and want to stay until the end, be sure to check your train schedule so you don’t miss your last train home.

April 16 (After Festival)

April 16: After-Festival Kabuki (Goen kyogen 後宴狂言)
9:30 am to 8:40 pm: The four floats will perform kabuki three or four times this day in their respective neighborhoods in central Nagahama or at the Nagahama Bunka Geijutsu Kaikan hall for a paying audience from 11:20 a.m. (Floats won’t appear at the Kaikan hall, only the kabuki actors and musicians.)

Between the performances, the floats might move to another location within their neighborhood. This will be the last day to see child kabuki.

Each float’s final performance of the festival is called senshuraku (千秋楽). It starts as early as 6:30 p.m. and as late as 8 p.m. For exact times and locations, see the official festival guidebook in Japanese or ask the tourist information desk at Nagahama Station. Expect to see some tearful kids and relieved parents after the last show is over.

April 17: Sacred-Staff Returning Ceremony (御幣返しの儀)
8:00 am: Representatives (including the Sacred Staff Messenger around age 5–7) from the four floats go to Nagahama Hachimangu to return their sacred staffs (zigzag gohei paper streamers) that were mounted on their floats.

Nagahama Hikiyama Festival Map

The map below shows the float procession route on April 15 and the location of all Nagahama Hikiyama floats. See their neighborhood kabuki performances (on April 13, 14, 16) near their respective float storehouses on the map.

Tips for seeing the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival

• When you arrive at JR Nagahama Station, go to the tourist information center outside the turnstile (go right) and ask for the kabuki performance schedule, locations, and map. There might also be an information desk right outside the turnstile. Hopefully, they can understand foreign languages.
• On April 15, the main day, all four floats will perform kabuki in succession (40 min. each) at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine from 9:20 am to 1:35 pm. The shrine will also have announcements in English. (Guess who was the English coach.)
• Or if you arrive Nagahama later in the day on April 15, you can see all four floats perform in succession at the Otabisho (large parking lot) near Nagahama Station from 3:25 pm to 7:40 pm when the last performance ends.
• You can also see kabuki between Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine and the Otabisho (see map below) as the floats stop and perform especially at the Otemon-dori shopping arcade and Kurokabe Square. You can see the floats up close (artwork, etc.) while they are parked.
• Each of the four floats will perform kabuki four times on April 15 for a total of 16 kabuki performances. So there will be a kabuki performance once or twice every hour from 9:20 am to 7:00 pm (ending at 7:40 pm). The goal is to see kabuki on all four floats.
• Be aware that it is “standing room only” for all kabuki performances. It can be tiring to watch all four kabuki performances while standing. You could bring a collapsible chair, but people standing in front of you will block your view. Instead of seeing all four kabuki plays in succession, best to take a break in-between and see the next one at a later time and place.
• For food, there are restaurants and eateries in and near Otemon-dori arcade and Kurokabe Square.
• If you plan to see the festival in the evening, the temperature can get much cooler so bringing a jacket is advisable.
• In case of rain, wear a raincoat or poncho. Umbrellas are discouraged because it will block people’s view behind you.
• You can see Nagahama Hikiyama floats year-round at the Hikiyama Museum next to Otemon-dori arcade.

Origin of Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri Festival

According to popular legend, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the lord of Nagahama Castle, his first son Hashiba Hidekatsu was born in the early 1570s. To celebrate his son’s birth, Hideyoshi gave gold dust to the townspeople. The people used the gold to make a wooden float to celebrate the son’s birth. Hideyoshi paraded the float at Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine. This was the start of the Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri. This legend is often repeated, but it is not true.

Nagahama Hikiyama Festival actually originated from an annual samurai procession held by Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine founded in 1069 by the famed samurai Minamoto no Yoshiie (1039-1106). The shrine worships Hachiman (Emperor Ojin), the divine guardian of samurai. (Not the God of War as popularly called.)

In the late 16th century, daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi relocated the shrine to make way for his Nagahama Castle on the shore of Lake Biwa. At the same time, Hideyoshi rebuilt Nagahama Hachimangu that had been ravaged by war. The shrine’s annual samurai procession dedicated to Minamoto no Yoshiie was also resurrected with Hideyoshi’s samurai retainers.

By the 18th century well after Hideyoshi’s death, the samurai procession became more elaborate with wooden floats being added. When kabuki became popular in the 18th century, Nagahama’s townspeople thought about staging kabuki on the floats.

They asked the prominent carpenter and woodcarver family of the late Fujioka Izumi (1617–1705) to design a float having a kabuki stage. The early floats were much simpler than today’s floats. The Fujioka family went on to design and build many of the floats since they were master builders of Buddhist altars. That’s why the floats look like Buddhist altars.

The idea of staging kabuki on festival floats spread from Nagahama to other float festivals such as the Tarui Hikiyama Matsuri in nearby prefectures like Gifu.

More info

For festival details in Japanese, see or download the official festival guide book pdf.

For more information about the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival in English and all the floats, watch my YouTube video (embedded above). It’s the most comprehensive video about the festival in English. Being 91 min. long, it’s a long video, but you’ll learn a lot and enjoy the festival a lot more by knowing more about it and knowing what to expect.

Second Sat. in October (Oct. 10, 2026): Float Replacement Event (曳山交替式)
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.: The hikiyama floats exhibited in the Nagahama Hikiyama Museum will be pulled out and taken back to their neighborhoods. Then the four floats appearing in next year’s festival will be brought into the museum to be displayed. This event used to be held on the first Sat. in April, but it’s now held on the second Sat. in October since 2019.

For the April 2027 Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri, the Gekkyuden, Kasuga-zan, Kanko-zan, and Seikai-zan floats will appear.
In April 2028, the Kotobuki-zan, Shojo-maru, Takasago-zan, Ho’o-zan floats will appear. In April 2029, the same floats appearing this year in 2026 will appear again.

Related sights

All the following sights are within walking distance from JR Nagahama Station.

Nagahama Hachimangu Shrine (長浜八幡宮) – Shinto shrine in Nagahama that holds the annual Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri Festival in April. The shrine is dedicated to Hachiman, the divine guardian and protector of the samurai. It’s also city’s most popular shrine on New Year’s Day. About 150,000 people worship at the beginning of the new year. Map

Nagahama Hikiyama Museum (長浜市曳山博物館) – Located next to Otemon-dori shopping arcade, Hikiyama Museum displays two hikiyama floats and artifacts related to the annual Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri Festival. Open 9 am–5 pm, closed Dec. 29–Jan. 3. Adult admission ¥600, children ¥300. Map

Otemon-dori shopping arcade (大手門通り) – Otemon arcade is one of Nagahama’s main shopping areas for both residents and tourists. It has a roof so it is convenient even on rainy days. On April 14 evening, the child kabuki evening procession goes through Otemon arcade. And on April 15 in the afternoon, all the hikiyama floats pass through and perform inside Otemon arcade. Map

Kurokabe Square (黒壁スクエア) – Right next to Otemon arcade, Kurokabe Square is one of Shiga’s most popular tourist attractions. It’s a charming shopping area with traditional buildings like the popular glassware shop housed in an old bank building with black walls called “kurokabe” in Japanese. Opened in 1989. Map

Otabisho rest place (御旅所) – The Otabisho is a small shrine building where the god traveling in a portable shrine can take a rest. It is part of the Shinto shrine (Nagahama Hachimangu) and located a short distance away from the main shrine. In the case of Nagahama Hikiyama Festival, the Otabisho is used to keep a portable shrine during the festival and serves as the final gathering place for all four hikiyama floats for their final kabuki performances on April 15. Map

Hokoku Jinja Shrine (豊国神社) – Dedicated to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the founder of Nagahama when he built Nagahama Castle in the 16th century. During the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival, this shrine is where the Hadaka-mairi water splashing prayers are held on April 9th–12th evenings. This shrine is a 3-min. walk from Nagahama Station and close to the Otabisho. It also holds the Toka Ebisu Festival (十日えびす) on Jan. 9th-11th. Ebisu is one of the seven gods of good fortune. Map

Nagahama Castle and Hokoen Park (長浜城・豊公園) – Nagahama Castle is a lakeside castle within a large park named Hokoen. The original castle was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 16th century who lived in Nagahama Castle until 1582. The current castle tower was reconstructed in 1983. It serves as a local history museum. Hokoen Park is designated as one of Japan’s 100 Best Cherry Blossom spots in April. Plum blossoms also bloom in March. A short walk from Nagahama Station (west side). Map

Initial screening at K’s Cinema in Shinjuku, Tokyo has ended on March 27, 2026.

After eight years in the making, an indie film titled “Nagahama” (長浜) filmed entirely in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, Japan has hit the silver screen for the first time in March 2026 starting in Tokyo.

The movie’s underlying theme is the Nagahama Hikiyama Matsuri float festival (長浜曳山祭) with two teenage characters preparing to perform in the festival. A teenage boy (age 11) named Ibuki practices to become a child kabuki actor, while a teenage girl named Hana strives to play the flute for the festival. The festival is held annually in mid-April.

Ibuki (伊吹), obviously named after the nearby mountain, is played by Shoji Ako (荘司 亜虎). He has a deceased Japanese father from Nagahama and a Taiwanese mother now in Nagahama. His father was once a child kabuki actor in Nagahama, but died a year before. Ibuki and his mother came to Nagahama to bring his father’s ashes.

Ibuki takes the opportunity of the visit to become a child kabuki actor for the upcoming Hikiyama Matsuri on the Ho-o-zan float (鳳凰山) in a kabuki play called Heike Nyogo no Shima – Shunkan (平家女護島 俊寛 鬼界ヶ島の場).

As an onnagata, he plays the female kabuki character Chidori. (This play will also be staged in this year’s festival by the Banzai-ro float. See my synopsis below.)

A real kabuki instructor, Iwai Komurasaki (岩井 小柴), who has been coaching child kabuki actors most every year at the festival, also appears in the film training Ibuki and other boys for the play. The kabuki practice scenes were good, but too brief.

Ibuki is accompanied by his romantic interest Hana (花), a low-teen girl practicing the flute for shagiri festival music. Played by co-star Kato Anri (加藤 あんり), Hana actually wants to be one of the kabuki actors on the float, but girls are prohibited from the kabuki stage. Only boys can be a kabuki actor, in accordance with festival tradition.

Not only that, she later reveals that she’s actually a boy born in a girl’s body even though she and Ibuki develop romantic feelings for each other.

Then there’s Ibuki and his Taiwanese mother (played by Eren, 瑛蓮) sometimes speaking Chinese. So there’s a Taiwan connection too. Not sure how it fits into the overall story though.

The film includes a few scenes of the Hikiyama Matsuri, especially the Ho-o-zan float doing the Hadaka Mairi in the evening, the morning Sword Procession, child kabuki performance on the main festival day, and the floats gathering at the Otabisho on the evening of main day.

The film doesn’t caption the festival scenes, so it’s not a festival documentary. But Nagahama people familiar with the festival will immediately recognize each festival scene.

The festival footage was mostly filmed during the 2022 festival when the Ho-o-zan float appeared. (Festival floats usually appear only once every three years to stage child kabuki.)

With so many story arcs, I thought the film’s story was spread too thin and not developed as well as they should be. I would’ve loved to see a more thorough depiction of the typical struggles of the child kabuki actors. Memorizing the lines, going to practice, crying during practice, and the parents making sure their son doesn’t get sick. The parents play a major role in the child kabuki performances and festival.

Seeing Hana practicing the flute was nice, but the film hardly shows her struggles of playing the flute and mastering it. There’s no flute teacher in the film. She only plays it well in the end when she kicked off the festival with her flute.

The fact that girls are not allowed on the kabuki stage was also not really addressed. There’s no explanation of why girls are not allowed on stage.

I am all for allowing girls to be kabuki actors in the festival. In this day and age, it’s something that needs to be seriously considered. Due to the declining population, the festival is already struggling to find boys to be kabuki actors, so having girls would be a viable solution. I’m sure it would attract more people to the festival too. Female/women kabuki actors is not unheard of in Japan. There are acting troupes allowing it.

Remember that Mt. Fuji originally banned women from climbing it. Imagine if that rule were still in place.

I’m glad the movie at least mentioned it. Something to think about since it really is unfair to girls. They can act and do anything just as good or better than boys. We even see many women dressed up as samurai at festivals. So I know that they are willing and able.

The director and screenwriter, Taniguchi Mio (谷口未央), was born in Kyoto, but lived much of her childhood in Nagahama in the 1980s. She still has a strong attachment to Nagahama and always wanted to make a film about Nagahama’s festival. It was a string of struggles for her to produce this film which took eight years. We certainly have to congratulate her for her perseverance and strong determination. The production involved many people and local businesses in Nagahama.

Since it’s so rare to see a film entirely filmed in Shiga, the film has been welcomed by everyone in Nagahama, especially by those involved in the Hikiyama Matsuri, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as one of the 33 “Yama, Hoko, and Yatai float festivals in Japan.”

The film is currently screening once a day at 10:00 am in Shinjuku, Tokyo at an indie film theater named K’s Cinema from March 14 to March 27, 2026. This is the film’s first public screening where I saw it as well.

In case you’re in Tokyo now, K’s Cinema is near the East Exit of JR Shinjuku Station and Exit E9 of Shinjuku Sanchome Station.
Google Map here.

Advance tickets with reserved seating can be purchased online here: https://www.ks-cinema.com/movie/nagahama/

The theater is in a building housing other businesses. Go up to the 3rd floor.

There’s also English subtitles, but you need to install and use a smartphone app called UDCast. You need to wear smart glasses to see the English subtitles. I haven’t used it, so I don’t know how it works exactly.

Although there was a private screening in February 2026 at the Nagahama Hikiyama Museum, Shiga doesn’t have any small theaters geared for indie films, so there are currently no plans to screen the film in Shiga.

Although no dates have been announced yet, I believe screenings will be held in other major cities. Nagoya and Kyoto will be the closest to Shiga.

Official website: https://nagahama.brighthorse-film.com

Heike Nyogo no Shima – Shunkan (平家女護島 俊寛 鬼界ヶ島の場) Synopsis by Philbert Ono.

Priest Shunkan is living a miserable life of exile on Kikai Island together with Naritsune and Yasuyori, the fellow plotters of their failed revolt against Japanese ruler Taira no Kiyomori. It’s a far cry from their former lives of luxury.

Meanwhile, Naritsune has fallen in love with Chidori, a woman shellfish diver on the island. Priest Shunkan conducts a simple wedding ceremony for them with a traditional toast using mountain water instead of sake.

Then they see a ship bringing an Imperial messenger named Senoo Taro Kaneyasu who announces an Imperial order pardoning both Naritsune and Yasuyori, but not Shunkan who is shocked.

A second messenger Tanzaemon Motoyasu reveals that since Shunkan was the leader of the plot to overthrow Kiyomori, Shunkan is given a lesser pardon of being allowed to only return to his hometown of Bizen.

Shunkan is overjoyed at the good news and the three men and Chidori go to the boat to leave the island. However, Kaneyasu says that he has orders to take only three persons and refuses to take Chidori.

Naritsune says he would rather remain with his wife Chidori on the island in poverty than return to the capital without her. But he is forced to board, leaving Chidori behind. Shunkan begs Kaneyasu for leniency, but Kaneyasu refuses.

Then Kaneyasu adds to Shunkan’s grief by telling him that his wife Azumaya killed herself rather than becoming Kiyomori’s concubine. Enraged, Shunkan snatches Kaneyasu’s sword and kills him.

He then urges Chidori to board to join Naritsune, telling Tanzaemon that, by killing Kaneyasu, his pardon must now be considered null and that he must remain in exile. However, since the government order is to take back three persons, Chidori must go in his place.

The young couple and Yasuyori bid him farewell. As the ship sails away, Shunkan is left with the mooring rope slipping through his hands. From the top of a rock, Shunkan waves desperately to the ship which vanishes over the horizon.

The Omi Beef Association (近江肉牛協会) went all out to serve a complimentary Omi beef barbecue lunch for some lucky foreigners in Tokyo on March 7, 2026.

I was lucky to be one of the invitees to this Omi-gyu BBQ Matsuri dubbed “Omi Beef Experience in Tsukiji” (近江牛BBQ祭りin 築地).

Omi beef or Omi-gyu (近江牛) is a premium, Japanese marbled beef produced in Shiga Prefecture. It’s perhaps Shiga’s most famous product. Did you know that the famous Kobe beef originally came from Shiga? Read below.

The BBQ lunch was to promote Omi beef among us foreigners in Tokyo. Their mission was certainly accomplished with each of us devouring ¥50,000 worth of Omi beef for lunch, then raving about it on social media. (That’s how much upscale restaurants in Tokyo would charge for the amount of beef we consumed, we were told. Likely cheaper if we bought the same amount of raw Omi beef at a meat shop in Shiga.)

Tsukiji Outer Market

The place was Tsukiji Outer Market, at the BBQ Terrace on the roof of Uogashi fish market (築地 魚河岸 浜焼きBBQテラス). It was a sunny and slightly windy day, but picture perfect for an outdoor barbecue.

Tsukiji Outer Market used to be attached to the famous Tsukiji fish market which moved to Toyosu. Even without the fish market, the Tsukiji Outer Market has remained popular as ever with the lunchtime crowd seeking sushi and other seafood.

If you walk all the way to the rear of the Outer Market, you’ll see Uogashi, an indoor facility with seafood vendors. Less crowded here. Go upstairs for the BBQ Terrace.

As we arrived at the BBQ Terrace, a huge stash of Omi beef was on full display for us to see with mouths watering. There must’ve been at least 40 to 50 of us taking part, hosted by maybe 15 to 20 staff wearing hot-pink happi coats.

What to know about Omi beef:

• Omi beef is one of Japan’s Big Three Wagyu (日本三大和牛) beef. The other two are Kobe beef (Hyogo Prefecture) and Matsuzaka beef (Mie Prefecture).
• “Omi” (近江) or Ohmi is the former name of Shiga Prefecture when it was a feudal domain during the samurai period up until the late 19th century. It is still commonly used in place names and product names to indicate a Shiga connection.
• Omi beef is produced with Japanese Black cattle (黒毛和牛), a native Japanese cattle breed.
• Most of the beef cattle for Omi beef is raised in the cities of Omi-Hachiman and Higashi-Omi. Cattle in lakeside Omi-Hachiman have water from Lake Biwa, while cattle in Higashi-Omi drink mineral-rich water from the Suzuka Mountains. Shiga has about 80 Omi beef cattle farms who raise the cattle in accordance with strict standards.
• Only about 6,000 Omi-gyu cattle is shipped annually for beef.
• Omi beef is Japan’s oldest wagyu with a history of 400+ years dating back to the 17th century when the Hikone Domain offered dried beef to the shogun and daimyo lords as medicinal food. The history is much longer than Kobe beef (130+ years) and Matsuzaka beef (100+ years). More about the history below.
• In 1951, the Omi Beef Association was established as Japan’s first wagyu association to promote its beef.

Lunch is served…

The main dish was sirloin steak which was cooked for us. We each got half a steak. Quite thick.

After having sirloin steaks, we each got a large, thin slice of shabu-shabu meat which we grilled ourselves with corn.

We all got full stomachs. Such delicious food and pleasant company. Nice meeting everyone for the first time. My table was quite diverse with people from Singapore, Poland, France, Russia, and USA (me). People in groups of nine dined together at a table under a canopy.

We also had three alcoholic drinks from Shiga. Two different beers and a bottle of sake from Shiga. The beer was Kinkan Wit with a tanuki raccoon dog on the can. This was a Belgian-style beer blending Japanese kumquat (kinkan) and local wheat. Other beer was Lake Lager beer brewed with Omi rice. The can has a Giant Lake Biwa catfish.

Both beers are brewed by Two Rabbits Brewing Company in Omi-Hachiman in eastern Shiga. The interesting company name comes from the old proverb, “He who chases two rabbits catches neither.” It’s their reminder to focus on one thing to make progress. Not only that, the company is headed by an Australian. Website: https://www.tworabbitsbrewing.com

The sake was Daijiro Yamahai Junmai pasteurized sake brewed by Hatashuzo (畑酒造) in Higashi-Omi, Shiga. Brewed with all local ingredients.

These drinks were selected for us because they go well with Omi beef. I just had a sip of each, and noticed the different flavors.

A BIG THANK YOU to the Omi Beef Association for holding such a generous BBQ for us in Tokyo. Also thanks to all the companies or sponsors providing the drinks and anything else we enjoyed or used. ご馳走様でした！

Restaurants in Japan serving Omi beef is listed on this page: https://oumiushi.com/en/enjoy-2

History of Omi beef

During the Edo Period (1603–1868), it was prohibited to slaughter livestock. Buddhism was also against killing animals. However, the Hikone Domain’s Ii Clan was allowed to slaughter aging farm work cattle to provide the leather to the shogunate for samurai taiko drums. Farm work cows would typically be replaced with younger cattle after six or seven years. There was a slaughterhouse in Takamiya-juku Nakasendo Road post town near Hikone in the 18th century.

In 1687, a Hikone samurai retainer named Hanaki Den’emon (花木 伝右衛門) followed a recipe in the book, Compendium of Materia Medica written by Chinese herbalist Li Shizhen to make dried or raw beef marinated in miso paste or pickled vegetables. The book stated that beef was “excellent, sweet, and non-toxic; it soothes the body, nourishes the spleen and stomach, and strengthens the waist and legs.”

It was offered to the Tokugawa shoguns and a few daimyo lords as medicinal beef named henpongan (反本丸). By 1866, many daimyo lords liked the beef from Hikone as a health food. One daimyo who loved the miso-marinated beef was Tokugawa Nariaki (1800–1860) in Mito (Ibaraki Prefecture). He was the father of Yoshinobu, the last Tokugawa shogun. The beef was delivered to him every year. Henpongan became nationally known.

The product was branded as “Hikone beef” (彦根牛) instead of “Omi beef” since it was produced by the Hikone Domain. Records indicate that the Hikone Domain slaughtered 1,000 to 3,000 cattle annually during the late Edo period, and there were shops along the Tokaido Road selling “Hikone Beef.” Since it was produced in Shiga (Omi), this history is being included in the history of modern Omi beef.

The Hikone Domain did not raise cattle specifically for human consumption. Cattle was still primarily for farm work during the Edo Period.

It wasn’t until the Meiji Period (1868–1912) when the prohibition of meat consumption was lifted in Japan upon the influence of Western contact. Settlers from the West had meat as the main dish. This spurred cattle farmers and Omi merchants to sell “Omi beef” as a brand.

After the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the U.S. and Japan was signed in 1862, many foreigners started living in Yokohama. Knowing that foreigners loved beef, Omi merchant Nishii Shozo (西居 庄蔵) from Ryuo (Naemura), Gamo District in Shiga started bringing live cattle from Shiga to Yokohama in 1869. The arduous journey on the Tokaido Road took 17 or 18 days. He did business directly with the foreigners.

In 1882, he started transporting the cattle by boat from Kobe Port to Yokohama. The enabled him to ship many more beef cattle. However, in those days, his beef could not be branded as “Omi beef.” It had to take the name of the departure port, so it was called “Kobe beef” in Tokyo.

Thus, Kobe beef actually started off as Omi beef and the brand name became famous among foreigners. Shozo’s Omi beef company still exists as Restaurant Matsukiya (松喜屋) in Otsu.

Another Omi merchant, Takenaka Kyuji (1840–1913 竹中 久次) also from Ryuo, Gamo District, walked a few cattle from Shiga to Kobe’s foreign settlement where he sold the beef upon hearing that foreigners in Kobe liked beef.

He soon learned that Tokyo had many foreigners and Japanese who favored beef. So he walked several cattle from Shiga to Tokyo. However, he was attacked by street bandits at the steep Hakone Pass. Fortunately, yakuza boss Shimizu Jirocho who happened to be passing by, rescued Kyuji and they became friends since both of them were former rice merchants. Jirocho used his influence to stop the bandits from bothering Kyuji again.

Kyuji’s Omi beef sold well in Tokyo. In those days, most beef that was sold came from old, unwanted cattle. But Kyuji’s beef came from fresh cattle. He helped to spread the word about Goshu beef (江州牛).

In 1879, Kyuji moved to Tokyo. In the 1880s, he started a beef wholesale and retail business and successful sukiyaki restaurant in Asakusa-bashi. He went on to open 100 sukiyaki restaurants in Tokyo, further spreading public awareness and favor of Omi beef even among the Japanese.

Many other Omi merchants began dealing in livestock. In 1887, Tokyo slaughtered 20,000 cattle. Over 6,000 of them were from Shiga, thanks to Omi merchants like Shozo and Kyuji who established a sales and distribution system for beef.

In 1890 when the Tokaido train line connected Omi-Hachiman, Shiga with Tokyo Station, Omi cattle could finally be shipped directly from Shiga. A much higher volume of beef could thereby be shipped under the brand name of “Omi-gyu” instead of “Kobe beef.”

In 1906, Omi beef from Gamo District won first place at the National Livestock Exposition held in Ueno Park in Tokyo. Omi beef was on track to become more well known in Tokyo.

However, during World War II in the 1940s, beef was not allowed to be shipped outside Shiga, resulting in a decline in beef production.

To increase Shiga’s post-war beef production, the Omi Beef Association was established in 1951. It consisted of livestock merchants in Shiga and wholesalers in Tokyo. They were the first beef association in Japan and aimed to establish Omi beef as a brand of beef.

In 1954, the Omi Beef Association trucked 13 heads of cattle from Shiga to Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district for a PR event at Shirokiya Department Store where a public auction of the cows was held. It garnered much public attention. Shirokiya also had Shiga roots.

In the 1960s, farming techniques and machinery improved, enabling cattle farmers to improve their raising of cattle. The quality of beef improved and the amount of meat from each cow also increased. Farmers concentrated on increasing the marbled fat in the beef. They were still raising Holstein cows.

In 1991, beef imports were liberalized to allow cheap U.S. beef to enter Japan. The price of beef in Japanese supermarkets finally became much more affordable.

Shiga cattle farmers then decided to pivot toward premium beef. They moved away from Holstein cows to cross breeds, then finally to Japanese Black cattle. Marbled beef became the objective and norm for premium beef. Competition also heated up between the Big Three Wagyu producers.

It wasn’t until 2005 when the “Omi-gyu” (Omi beef) brand was officially defined according to the breed and origin. “Omi-gyu” (Omi beef) finally became a registered trademark in 2007.

To ensure consumer confidence, Omi beef is certified as such and can only be sold by certified outlets. Today, everyone in Shiga’s beef industry aim to make Omi beef Japan’s No. 1 beef brand out of the 300 wagyu beef brands in Japan. It also seeks to expand exports to overseas markets. Omi beef is already well recognized by chefs in and outside Japan. Good luck to all concerned!

Major sources

• https://omiushi.jp/omigyu
• https://www.matsukiya.net/oumigyu.html#oumigyuSukiyaki
• https://oumiushi.com/about/history
• https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AB%B9%E4%B8%AD%E4%B9%85%E6%AC%A1
• https://youtu.be/Uh9iSOXCAmY?si=Ud2xwVs_xXAEBxsp

by Philbert Ono

The 79th Japan Games (第79回国民スポーツ大会) were held successfully in Shiga Prefecture for the first time in 44 years from September 28 to October 8, 2025. They were coupled with the 24th Japan Para-Athlete Games (第24回全国障害者スポーツ大会) also in Shiga on October 25th–27th, 2025.

Formerly called the National Sports Festival of Japan (国民体育大会) or Kokutai (国体) for short, the Japan Games is a national sports competition held annually mainly in September-October with athletes representing all 47 prefectures competing in over 30 sports held in the host prefecture. Winter sports are also held in January–February in a supplemental prefecture with enough snow if the host prefecture doesn’t have enough snow and ice.

The host prefecture changes every year to different regions in no specific order. Last year, it was held in Saga Prefecture, and next year it will be in Aomori Prefecture. Each prefecture has held the Japan Games only once or twice in the past 79 years. So it’s a very rare event to be held in your prefecture.

I had never seen the Japan Games (nor Kokutai), so it was time to finally see it right here in Shiga. I was able to see and photograph six Japan Games sports (photos below). Had to miss the para-athlete games though.

It was all free, no reservations required except for the Opening/Closing Ceremonies attended by Imperial family members.

Contents

• About the Japan Games
• Japan Games in Shiga
• Japan Games venues in Shiga
• Shiga Prefecture in 1st place
• Watching the Japan Games
• Opening Ceremony in Hikone
• Athletics (Hikone)
• Rowing (Lake Biwa, Otsu)
• Field Hockey (Ibuki, Maibara)
• Canoe Sprint (Notogawa, Higashi-Omi)
• Sumo (Nagahama)
• Boxing (Higashi-Omi)
• Closing Ceremony (Hikone)
• Look of the Japan Games
• Next Japan Games in 2026, Aomori

About the Japan Games (Kokutai)

In 2024, the National Sports Festival of Japan (Kokumin Taiiku Taikai 国民体育大会) or Kokutai (国体) was renamed Kokumin Sports Taikai (国民スポーツ大会) in Japanese and Japan Games in English. The nickname was also changed to Koku-spo or Koku-supo (国スポ). It was first held under the new name last year in Saga Prefecture in 2024.

The 1st National Sports Festival of Japan was held in 1946 in the Kansai Region 79 years ago. Since 2001, it has included the Japan Para-Athlete Games (Zenkoku Shogaisha Sports Taikai 全国障害者スポーツ大会) or Sho-spo (障スポ). Inspired by the Paralympics which started at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the forerunner of Sho-spo was the annual national sports meet for the physically disabled (全国身体障害者スポーツ大会) starting in 1965 and another sports meet for the mentally challenged (全国知的障害者スポーツ大会) from 1992. These two para-sports competitions were combined in 2001 to start Sho-spo.

The Kokutai/Japan Games was started to promote sports nationwide, improve people’s physical fitness, and invigorate local sports and local culture. The Games are organized jointly by the Japan Sports Association; Japan Para-Sports Association; Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; and the host prefecture’s local governments.

Japan Games athletes are categorized as men, women, and youth males and females. Youths are in their third year of junior high school up to their high school senior year. Adults are age 18 or older after high school.

Olympic or former Olympic athletes are also allowed to compete as representatives of their home prefecture. This attracts the crowds. Hikone native and Olympian sprinter Kiryu Yoshihide appeared in the 400m relay as the main attraction and crowd pleaser.

Non-Japanese athletes can also compete if they are a student at an accredited school in the prefecture or a permanent resident in the prefecture they are representing. I did see a few foreigner athletes.

The last time (and first time) the Kokutai games were held in Shiga was 44 years ago in autumn 1981, the 36th Kokutai, dubbed the Biwako Kokutai (びわこ国体) with 22,540 athletes and coaches. The main stadium was Ojiyama Stadium in Otsu where the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and athletics were held.

Out of the 33 sports competitions held in Shiga in 1981, Shiga placed first in 16 of them. At the time, the Kokutai was held in both summer (September 13th–16th, 1981) and autumn (October 13th–18th, 1981). The para-athlete games were held on October 24th–25th, 1981. Winter games were held in Yamanashi and Niigata Prefectures.

That 36th Kokutai proved to be momentous for Maibara (Ibuki district) when it hosted the field hockey event. The Shiga men’s hockey team won the event together with Gifu Prefecture when they were tied in the finals match. Ibuki district went on to become a national powerhouse in field hockey, producing a number of Olympians for Japan’s field hockey Olympic team. An enduring legacy of the first Kokutai in Shiga. (Details below.)

In 2020 and 2021, the National Sports Festival to be held respectively in Kagoshima and Mie Prefectures were canceled due to COVID-19. An exceptional decision was later made for Kagoshima to postpone it to 2023. The prefectures already scheduled to host the Games in 2023 and 2024 agreed to postpone their dates as well.

Therefore, Saga Prefecture’s Japan Games were postponed from 2023 to 2024, and Shiga’s Japan Games were delayed by one year to 2025. The numbering of the Games was retained except for Kagoshima in 2023 when it had no number. Even the canceled games retained their numbering. So the “79th” designation for Shiga does not mean the event was held 79 times.

Meanwhile, neighboring Mie Prefecture became the first prefecture in Games history to withdraw from the Japan Games altogether. Since host prefectures are decided up to 10 years in advance, Mie’s earliest possible bid for the Games was 2035 which they have secured.

Japan Games in Shiga, 2025

79th Japan Games (Koku-spo) (第79回国民スポーツ大会)

• When: September 28–October 8, 2025 (Para Games October 25–27, 2025)
• Where: Shiga Prefecture (Main stadium in Hikone)
• Nickname: わたSHIGA輝く国スポ・障スポ 2025 (No official English translation)
• Competitive sports: 37 (plus 14 para-sports)
• Official mascots: Caffy and Chaffy
• Athletes and coaches: 18,340
• Official website: https://shiga-sports2025.jp/
• Official videos (all sports): https://japangamestv.japan-sports.or.jp/kyougi-top
• Competition results: https://kirokukensaku.net/5NS25/
• Shiga’s 1st place winners: List here.

It was July 14, 2022 at a Japan Sports Association (日本スポーツ協会) directors’ meeting when it was decided to hold the 79th Japan Games in Shiga in September–October 2025.

Shiga’s catchphrase for the 79th Japan Games in Shiga was わたSHIGA輝く国スポ・障スポ (Wata SHIGA kagayaku Koku-spo/Sho-spo) or “I shall shine at Koku-spo/Sho-spo.” Sort of an extreme homonym to embed “Shiga” which does not translate into English at all.

Any recent visitor to Shiga until October 2025 may have noticed this catchphrase on ubiquitous PR signboards and banners promoting the Japan Games especially at train stations and public facilities.

Also ubiquitous were official sports mascots Caffy (キャッフィー) and his female companion Chaffy (チャッフィー) in pink. They are also shown in Japan Games sports poses.

Caffy was originally the official mascot of Sports Recreation Shiga 2008, a national sports festival that was held annually from 1988 to 2011 (held in Yasu, Shiga in 2008). Chaffy was recently created for Shiga’s Koku-spo. Both Caffy and Chaffy are modeled after the Lake Biwa Giant Catfish.

A total of 37 sports and 14 para-sports were held by the 79th Japan Games. They included athletics (track and field), swimming, diving, water polo, soccer/football, tennis, rowing, canoeing, field hockey, boxing, volleyball, gymnastics, basketball, wrestling, weightlifting, cycling, judo, karate, bowling, golf, archery, kyudo archery, sports climbing, kendo, equestrian, triathlon, and even sumo. A few competitions like swimming and gymnastics were held in mid-September before the opening ceremony.

Winter sports were held during January–February before the main Games in autumn. Since Shiga is not cold enough or does not have adequate winter sports facilities, the winter sports were held outside Shiga in Okayama (figure skating and short-track speed skating), Gunma (speed skating), and Akita Prefectures (skiing).

Also, the cycling track race was held in Kyoto, rifle competition in Osaka, and equestrian in Hyogo.

There were also 26 demonstration sports such as billiards, nordic walking, and soft volleyball held in spring and summer.

A total of 18,340 athletes and coaches from all 47 prefectures participated in the 79th Japan Games.

Shiga Prefecture in 1st place (優勝)

Being the host prefecture, Shiga could afford to field athletes in many events. This brings more victories and more points to win the overall Japan Games Emperor’s Cup and Empress Cup. It’s almost like a tradition for the host prefecture to win both cups.

Shiga placed first in the following competitions:

• Archery – Youth female team
• Athletics – Men’s discus throw, Men’s 800m
• Badminton – Men’s overall
• Boxing – Men’s middleweight class
• Canoe sprint – Women’s canoe sprint Canadian single 200m and 500m, Youth female kayak single 500m
• Canoe Wildwater – Men’s kayak single 1500m
• Equestrian – Men’s six-obstacle show jumping, Youth freestyle dressage, Women’s standard show jumping, Youth team show jumping, Men’s derby, Women’s two-obstacle show jumping
• Fencing – Women’s epee, Men’s sabre
• Judo – Women’s team
• Karate – Youth male individual kumite
• Kendo – Youth male team, Men’s team, Women’s team
• Rifle shooting – Men’s 50m rifle three positions, Mixed adult’s 10m air rifle
• Rowing – Men’s coxed four, Youth female double scull
• Sailing – Women’s windsurfing (Iseda Ai)
• Tennis – Women’s team
• Trampoline – Men’s trampoline
• Triathlon – Men’s triathlon
• Weightlifting – Men’s 55kg class total lift, Men’s 55kg class clean & jerk
• Wrestling – Men’s Greco-Roman wrestling 130kg class and 87kg class, Youth male’s Greco-Roman wrestling 92kg class, Women’s wrestling 62kg class, Men’s freestyle wrestling 74kg class

79th Japan Games venues in Shiga

Japan Games competition venues were scattered all over Shiga using new or existing sports facilities both public and private. Except for Kora and Toyosato Towns, all of Shiga’s cities and towns hosted at least one competitive sport or demonstration sport. Otsu and Kusatsu hosted the most sports. Almost the entire prefecture thus had a stake in the Japan Games.

Some venues were within walking distance from the nearest train station, while others required a free shuttle bus, car, or taxi.

The equestrian venue was especially way out in Miki, Hyogo Prefecture. Really wanted to see it, but it was just too far away from Shiga even for a day trip.

The main stadium was the new Heiwado HATO Stadium (平和堂HATOスタジアム) in Hikone where the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and athletics (track and field) events were held.

Owned by Shiga Prefecture, Heiwado HATO Stadium was built in 2023 to meet the required specifications of the Japan Games. It replaced the old athletics field. The stands can seat 7,000, but there are no seat backs. The stadium has a nice view of nearby Hikone Castle. The stadium is geared for soccer while the neighboring stadium (HPL Baseball Park) is for baseball.

Local supermarket Heiwado won the stadium’s naming rights for five years by paying ¥10 million per year until March 31, 2028. “Hato” means dove, a symbol of peace and Heiwado.

All the competition venues were complemented by vendors selling Japan Games souvenirs and food.

Watching the Japan Games

The great thing about the Japan Games is that you can see a great variety of sports for free! No reservations required, and seats are usually readily available (except maybe for figure skating and gymnastics). Competitions at each venue usually last hours in a day and there’s a constant turnover of spectators, so seats usually open up. Spectators usually leave after their favored team or athlete finishes their competition. So you can just walk in and sit and watch any part of the games.

The only thing is that there are so many sports going on at the same time over a wide area that it’s hard to see all the sports you want to see. I managed to see only six sports (photos below).

The majority of spectators were from the host prefecture and friends and relatives of the athletes. I saw almost no foreigners. I thought it would be a prime opportunity to promote sports tourism in Shiga to foreign tourists, but there was little or no information in foreign languages. Koku-spo is apparently almost purely a local-only event. But it was a delight to see a few foreigner athletes competing.

Like the Olympics, there’s a torch relay, lighting of a cauldron, Opening and Closing Ceremonies (advance reservations required), and medal ceremonies where the top winners receive gold, silver, and bronze medals.

Although most people in Japan have heard of Kokutai or Koku-spo, I’ve noticed very few people among the Japanese public and my friends who have actually attended as spectators. It doesn’t get that much national media attention except when the Imperial family attends the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

So it’s a rare event held in your prefecture only once every 40+ years. Glad I saw it since I don’t think I’ll ever see it again in Shiga.

79th Japan Games, 2025 – Opening Ceremony in Hikone

The Opening Ceremony was held at Heiwado HATO Stadium in Hikone on September 28, 2025 in the presence of Emperor Naruhito (who gave a short message) and Empress Masako. Final torch bearers included Hikone natives and Olympic medalists Kiryu Yoshihide and Ohashi Yui lighting a small cauldron during the ceremony.

Sports delegations from all the prefectures marched into the stadium. When the Shiga delegation appeared, a marching version of Biwako Shuko no Uta (Lake Biwa Rowing Song) was played (video below).

The Opening Ceremony required advance reservations.

The Emperor and Empress had arrived JR Maibara Station via shinkansen and was greeted by Shiga Governor Mikazuki on the train platform. They first had lunch at Maibara City Hall before going to the Opening Ceremony in Hikone. That night, they stayed at Biwako Hotel in Otsu.

On the next day on September 29, they watched badminton at Shiga Arena in Otsu. Later in the day, they visited the Shiga Prefectural School for the Visually impaired (滋賀県立盲学校). They left Shiga in the late afternoon from JR Maibara Station via shinkansen to Tokyo. They were seen off by a crowd lining the street to the station’s east entrance.

Their daughter Princess Aiko had also planned to attend the Japan Games on October 5th and 6th to see sports climbing and handball and visit Lake Biwa Museum and Azuchi Castle Archaelogical Museum. It was going to be her first visit to Shiga Prefecture. Unfortunately, she tested positive for COVID on October 1. She recovered from the fever on October 2, but still had a sore throat and cough. Her visit to Shiga was cancelled.

Athletics – 79th Japan Games, 2025 (Hikone)

Athletics – 79th Japan Games in Shiga (陸上競技)
When: October 3rd–7th, 2025
Where: Heiwado HATO Stadium (平和堂HATOスタジアム)
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/sNnYFio12GKgDP5j6
Official: https://shiga-sports2025.jp/kokuspo/competition/k_athletics
Results: https://kirokukensaku.net/5NS25/discipline_010_20251003.html

A wide variety of track and field events were held during the five days. Since different events were held at the same time, we could see a lot on each day. Athletes were running, jumping, and throwing at the same time.

Track events included sprints, middle and long distance runs, hurdles, steeplechase, relays, and race walking. Field events had high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus throw, hammer throw, and javelin throw.

From JR Hikone Station, Heiwado HATO Stadium is about a 20-min walk. There were local buses from the station, but infrequent, so most people walked.

In the male (男子) and female (女子) categories, athletics have three different age classes. Adults (成年), Youth A (少年A), and Youth B (少年B). Youth A are athletes who are high school juniors or seniors. Youth B are in the third year of junior high school or high school sophomores.

Youth B athletes compete in only a few limited events such as the 100m sprint, 3000m run, and long jump, while Youth A compete in more events. There were also a few gender-specific events such as the pole vault only by women, and discus throw for only males.

Although the Japan Games athletics competition has 56 competition events for men, women, and youths, prefectural athletics delegations are limited to only 31 members including two coaches. This means not all prefectures are represented at each event. The delegation also cannot have more than 19 male athletes or more than 19 female athletes among the maximum total of 31. An athlete cannot compete in more than two events except for relay races.

Each prefectural team held qualifying competitions back home for athletes. Japan Games athletes must have competed in qualifying events at the prefectural level.

I watched athletics partially on three days: October 3, 4, and 5, 2025.

The main attraction was Hikone native Kiryu Yoshihide (桐生祥秀) in the mixed adult and youth male’s 4x100m relay as the first runner. He appeared twice, for the qualifying run on Oct. 3 and semi-finals the next day. However, his team was disqualified in the semi-finals (faulty baton passing), so sadly we didn’t see him again for the finals on October 5th.

He’s no stranger to Koku-spo, having competed in the 100m sprint (his specialty) while in high school at the 2011 and 2012 Kokutai. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, his 4x100m relay team won the silver medal for Japan.

In 2017, he became the first Japanese sprinter to run 100 meters in less than 10 sec. at 9.98 sec. It was sensational sports news.

This past July at the Japan Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo, he won the men’s 100m national title with 10.23 sec. He has brought much pride to Hikone and Shiga. I do have a video of him running. Will post it later.

All of Shiga’s athletics competitors wore Biwako Blue with the “25” bib number. Apparently, “25” denotes the year 2025.

Youth A male, 5,000-meter run finals (少年男子A 5000m 決勝) (Oct. 3). Won by Hyogo Prefecture (新妻 遼己) in 13 min. 35.33 sec. Shiga didn’t make the finals.

Men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase finals (成年男子3000m 障害 決勝) Won by Ibaraki Prefecture in 8 min. 27.35 sec. Shiga (bib 25) was 4th place. (Oct. 3)

Men’s 800-meter run, Heat 1 (成年男子800m 予選1組) (Oct. 3).

Passing the baton from the third to fourth runner for the Mixed adult and youth male’s 4×100m relay Heat 1. Kiryu Yoshihide was part of this team as the first runner. (成年少年男子共通4×100mリレー 予選1組) (Oct. 3)

Mixed adult and youth male’s 4×100m relay Heat 1. Shiga (bib No. 25, Tanaka) won Heat 1 and advanced to the semi-finals the next day. (成年少年男子共通4×100mリレー 予選1組) (Oct. 3)

Mixed adult and youth female’s 4x100m relay Heat 2 (Chiba, Yamagata, Ehime, Iwate, Gunma, Wakayama, Saga, Toyama). Passing the baton from the second to third runner. (成年少年女子共通4×100mリレー 予選2組) (Oct. 3)

Mixed adult and youth female’s 4x100m relay Heat 2, passing the baton from the third to fourth runner. Chiba won this heat and advanced to the semi-finals along with Yamagata, Ehime, Iwate, and Gunma. (成年少年女子共通4×100mリレー 予選2組) (Oct. 3)

Mixed adult and youth female’s 4x100m relay Heat 3. (成年少年女子共通4×100mリレー 予選3組). Shiga (bib 25) won this heat. Shiga, Miyagi, Shizuoka, Aichi, and Okayama advanced to the semi-finals. Gifu was disqualified, and Yamaguchi withdrew.

Youth A female 2000-meter steeplechase finals with 18 runners. Right photo is Shiga runner KATAYA Hina (片矢 陽菜) in the water obstacle. Won by Ibaraki Prefecture (シュブルチェック　アンナ). Osaka and Nagano came in 2nd and 3rd. Shiga (KATAYA Hina, bib 25) placed 14th. (少年女子A 2000m障害 決勝) (Oct. 3)

Women’s hammer throw (4 kg) finals by Shiga athlete KODATE Miharu (小舘 充華) who placed 2nd with 62.85 meters. Won by Aomori Prefecture (村上 来花) with 66.22 meters. (成年女子ハンマー投 決勝) (Oct. 3)

Kodate is retiring after this season after hammer throwing for 12 years since her first year in high school. Although she’s originally from Akita Prefecture, her husband (奥村匡由), also a hammer thrower, is from Shiga. So she moved here upon marriage and represented Shiga.

Her best hammer throw is 65.74 meters, the sixth farthest in Japan. She hopes to stay connected with athletics after retirement.

Men’s javelin throw by Shiga athlete Yamada Hayato (山田 隼人) who placed 4th with 75.23 meters. Winner was Ehime Prefecture (崎山 雄太) with 80.43 meters. (Oct. 4) 成年男子やり投 決勝

Left: High jump was held at one end of the track/field. Youth male high jump finals won by Osaka Prefecture (中村 佳吾) with 2.15 meters. Shiga didn’t appear in the finals. (Oct. 3) (少年男子共通走高跳 決勝).
Right: Youth B female triple jump finals (Oct. 3) (少年女子B走幅跳 決勝)

In athletics, Shiga won in two events: Men’s discus throw (湯上 剛輝) with 57.97 meters, and in the Men’s 800m run at 1 min. 45.20 sec. (落合 晃). Congrats!

JR Hikone Station had this helpful Japan Games Information Center where we could pick up pamphlets and ask questions. They also posted info on when Kiryu Yoshihide would compete.

Rowing – 79th Japan Games, 2025 (Lake Biwa, Otsu)

Rowing – 79th Japan Games in Shiga (ローイング 旧ボート)
When: October 4th–7th, 2025
Where: Kansai Mirai Rowing Center, Otsu (関西みらいローイングセンター（滋賀県立琵琶湖漕艇場）)
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YMMz1RbmmZvntURX7
Official: https://otsu-kokuspo2025.jp/game/type/g_kan.html
https://shiga-sports2025.jp/kokuspo/competition/k_boat
Results: https://kirokukensaku.net/5NS25/discipline_080_20251004.html

If there’s a sport Shiga was made for, it’s rowing (and sailing). With Lake Biwa, Shiga has a long history of water sports, especially rowing, both competitive and recreational. I went to see rowing on October 7, the last day when finals races were held.

The rowing venue was the Kansai Mirai Rowing Center also long known as the Shiga Prefectural Lake Biwa Rowing Course (関西みらいローイングセンターor 滋賀県立琵琶湖漕艇場). This is a 1000-meter, straight rowing course in calm waters near the mouth of Seta River, the lake’s sole outflowing river.

This was also the rowing venue 44 years ago for the 36th Kokutai held in Shiga in 1981. About a 20-minute walk from JR Ishiyama Station.

The rowing venue has no spectator seating except for a few benches. You either stand or sit on the ground. Having a portable stool or mat is recommended.

Many rowing events are held here such as the annual Asahi Regatta, Japan’s largest annual regatta with hundreds of rowers from junior high schoolers to age 60+.

In Japanese, the sport of rowing was long called “boat” (ボート). The sport was recently officially renamed in Japanese as “rowing” (ローイング), matching the English.

As illustrated below, the Japan Games rowing competition had four categories each for men, women, youth males, and youth females: Single scull, double scull, coxed quadruple (each rower uses two oars), and coxed four (each rower uses one oar). The cox is a non-rowing member sitting in the front to control the rudder.

The first to cross the finish line (front tip of boat) after racing 1,000 meters was the winner. Races were usually over in three or four minutes.

Single scull (シングル スカル) is a solo rower using two oars on a 8-meter long boat. The word “scull” means “a pair of oars.”

Double scull (ダブル スカル) has two rowers each using two oars on a 9-meter long boat. Their rowing must synchronize well.

Coxed quadruple (舵手付クォドルプル) has a cox (pilot who controls the rudder) and four rowers using two oars each. The boat is 12 meters long.

Coxed four (舵手付フォア) has a cox (pilot) and four rowers using only one oar each. The boat is 12 meters long. (Missed seeing this event at the Japan Games.)

The Japan Games doesn’t have the crowd-pleasing coxed eight category with eight rowers on one long boat.

Shiga won two rowing events: Men’s coxed four and Youth female’s double scull. Congrats!

Near the finish line were interviews, picture-taking, rowing awards ceremonies.

Japan Games information booth at JR Ishiyama Station and JR Otsu Station.

Field Hockey – 79th Japan Games, 2025 (Ibuki, Maibara)

Field Hockey – 79th Japan Games in Shiga (ホッケー)
When: October 1st–5th, 2025
Where: OSP Hockey Stadium and Maibara Ibuki No. 1 Field, Maibara (OSPホッケースタジアム、米原市伊吹第1グラウンド)
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/6tQVMunZAUeXLktu7
Official: https://shiga-sports2025.jp/competition/k_hockey
https://kokutai.hockey.or.jp/
Results: https://kirokukensaku.net/5NS25/discipline_090_20251001.html
More photos: Women’s field hockey match between Shiga and Yamanashi

The field hockey venue is in a scenic setting with Mt. Ibuki in the background. Two adjacent hockey fields were used. OSP Hockey Stadium was the main field with blue artificial turf, and Maibara Ibuki No. 1 Field has yellow turf and used mainly for youth matches. Both venues had shaded spectator seating (non-reserved). Smaller than a soccer field, the hockey field or pitch is 91.4 meters long and 55 meters wide.

Adult teams have 11 players, while youth teams (up to jr. high) have six. Players can shoot for the goal only while within the 14.63-meter shooting semicircle in front of the goal. The hockey ball is about the same size as a baseball and has dimples like a golf ball. Players are prohibited from shooting the ball at any player above the waist or doing anything dangerous to other players. They cannot touch the ball with any part of their body except the stick. Only the goalkeeper can touch the ball with their body.

A field hockey match is 60 minutes long with four 15-minute quarters. There is a 2-minute interval between quarters and halftime break of 10 minutes when they water the field. If the score is tied, there’s a shootout except in the finals match and 3rd place match when tied teams are declared 1st or 3rd place co-winners.

Only ten prefectural field hockey teams in each category (men’s, women’s, youth male, and youth female) play during the Japan Games. They consist of the host prefecture (automatically receiving a tournament slot) and winners of their respective nine blocks (Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Kita-Shin’etsu, Tokai, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku, Kyushu). Prefectures in each block hold their own field hockey tournament in August to produce the winning team to represent the block at the Japan Games in autumn.

The ten competing teams in women’s field hockey were Shiga, Hiroshima, Saga, Yamanashi, Kagawa, Iwate, Toyama, Nara, Hokkaido, and Gifu.

The ten teams in men’s field hockey were Shiga, Fukui, Shimane, Yamagata, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Tochigi, Nara, Hokkaido, and Gifu.

In the end, Shiga’s men’s team won 3rd place by beating Fukui (2-1), Shiga’s women’s team won 3rd place by tying Nara (1-1), and Shiga’s youth female team won 3rd place by beating Iwate (1-0). Shiga’s youth male team didn’t place.

Field hockey has been included as a competitive sport since the first Kokutai in 1946. Thanks to the Kokutai, field hockey in Japan has spread. However, Japan’s field hockey population remains low, about 30,000 compared to soccer’s 810,000 today.

I went to see field hockey on October 2, the second day when quarterfinals were held in all four categories. Watched Shiga’s women’s team beat Yamanashi (Kanto block winner) in the quarterfinals in a shootout (2-2). Photos below.

In Maibara’s Ibuki district, field hockey has been a symbol sport since the last Japan Games (then known as Kokutai) held in Shiga in 1981. Thanks to the 1981 Kokutai, Maibara has developed into a “Hockey Town” and since become a powerhouse in field hockey producing a number of athletes for Japan’s Olympic field hockey team.

When venues were being decided for the 1981 Kokutai in Shiga, Ibuki-cho, Santo-cho, Omi-cho, and Maihara-cho Towns (eventually merged to become the city of Maibara in 2005) decided to team up to host the field hockey competition. Since field hockey was still a very minor sport in Japan, there was a lot of local skepticism and opposition to hosting it. However, only Ibuki Town stood firm and decided to host field hockey for the 1981 Kokutai.

To prepare for the upcoming Kokutai, Ibuki Town got serious about field hockey and in 1979, the Ibuki elementary school team won the national field hockey tournament for the first time. This sparked a hockey fever in Ibuki.

At the 1981 Kokutai, Shiga’s men’s field hockey team won the competition together with Gifu Prefecture in a tied final match. Spectators of mostly relatives and friends of the players went wild. They even clamored for autographs from the players. Hockey fever hit Ibuki (later Maibara) and hasn’t stopped since.

Ibuki High School’s male and female field hockey teams have since won national high school tournaments (インターハイ). Ibuki has also produced Olympic field hockey athletes for the Japan’s national team.

Youth female hockey quarterfinal match between Fukui and Shimane (red) at Maibara Ibuki No. 1 Field.

In 2020, Shiga’s first professional field hockey team, BlueSticks Shiga was formed. Based in Maibara (OSP Hockey Stadium), they belong to the Samurai Div. 1 League.

Although Ibuki junior high and high school produced top-notch hockey players, they had nowhere to go in Shiga after graduation. They ended up on hockey teams outside Shiga. To remedy this and to invigorate field hockey in Shiga, BlueSticks Shiga was formed. Their season is from spring to autumn.

More photos of Japan Games women’s field hockey match between Shiga and Yamanashi here.

Canoe Sprint – 79th Japan Games, 2025 (Notogawa, Higashi-Omi)

Canoe sprint – 79th Japan Games in Shiga (カヌー スプリント)
When: October 3rd–6th, 2025
Where: Ibanaiko Special Canoe Course (伊庭内湖特設カヌー競技場)
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/R2NX5SfJEBaaL1iS6
Official: https://shiga-sports2025.jp/kokuspo/competition/k_canoe
Results: https://kirokukensaku.net/5NS25/discipline_350_20251003.html

The canoe sprint venue was near the famous giant Notogawa Waterwheel (12-meter diameter), the symbol of Notogawa. It was rebuilt as the third-generation giant waterwheel on August 28, 2025 in time for the Japan Games. The old, second-generation waterwheel was old and out of order (not turning).

However, the newly built giant waterwheel was closed to the public during the Japan Games since the immediate area was occupied by athletes and canoes.

The canoe sprint venue was the lakeside Notogawa Waterwheel and Canoe Land recreational area (能登川水車とカヌーランド) where you can normally rent a swan boat, rowboat, or canoe (closed on Mon., the day after a national holiday, and Dec. 28–Jan. 4).

It’s on the shore of an attached lake named Lake Iba or Iba-naiko (伊庭内湖). The small lake is “attached” to Lake Biwa via a short waterway. The surrounding rural area is a designated National Important Cultural Landscape (重要文化的景観). Shiga has a few other designated cultural landscapes.

I saw the canoe sprint on October 5 when it was raining. Not to be confused with the canoe slalom and wild water events held along Seta River in Otsu.

The canoe sprint course was 200, 500, or 1500 meters off the shore of the calm Lake Iba.

Competition categories for both adult and youth male and female were based on the type of canoe (kayak or Canadian), number of paddlers (single or pair), and distance (200 m, 500 m, or 1500 m).

Kayaks have the paddler sit in the canoe while looking forward and using a double-bladed paddle. There can be a single or pair of paddlers.

Canadian canoes have the paddler kneeling on one leg and using a single-bladed paddle. There can be a single or pair of paddlers.

Shiga won three canoe sprint events: Women’s canoe sprint Canadian single 200m and 500m, and Youth female kayak single (500m). Congrats!

Lakeside spectators could sit or stand along the lakeshore or sit on free, non-reserved chairs.

People could also huddle under this large canopy (rest area) to watch the canoe sprints on a TV monitor. Due to the rain, lots of people opted to watch it on the monitor.

Canoe sprint signboard at the main entrance while the waterwheel area was occupied by athletes and canoes.

This small building within Canoe Land is the Waterwheel Museum (水車資料館) and cafe named Mizuguruma (みずぐるま) which means waterwheel. The museum shows how the waterwheel was used to mill rice. During the Games, the building was used as the canoe event’s administrative office.

JR Notogawa Station is shaped like a waterwheel. Nearby was the free shuttle bus stop for the canoe sprint, soccer, and boxing venues.

JR Notogawa Station was decorated with Japan Games PR signs and unmanned information table. In front of the station is a small shopping mall, convenient to get a bite to eat or coffee before or after spectating.

Sumo – 79th Japan Games, 2025 (Nagahama)

Sumo – 79th Japan Games in Shiga (相撲)
When: September 29–October 1, 2025
Where: Nagahama Dome, Nagahama (滋賀県立長浜ドーム)
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/LY2sWHvue7yAx5PP6
Official: https://shiga-sports2025.jp/kokuspo/competition/k_sumo
Results: https://kirokukensaku.net/5NS25/discipline_240_20250929.html

Went to see sumo on September 29, 2025, the first day and saw the youth team’s qualifying round. This must be the only Japan Games sport with no female competitors even though there are amateur women sumo wrestlers in Japan. (They are appropriately dressed and expose little skin.)

The sumo competition had no rankings like yokozuna, ozeki, etc., found in college and professional sumo. It was basically an elimination tournament for adult and youth sumo teams and individuals representing 47 prefectures.

Each prefecture was represented by an adult sumo team of three wrestlers and youth team of five. The top 16 sumo teams winning the qualifying rounds advanced to the championship round. There also was an individual competition. No weight classes.

They don’t throw salt on the ring nor rinse their mouths with water like professional sumo wrestlers do. Shinto religious rituals and elements were excluded. The match started within 20 sec. after both wrestlers stepped into the sumo ring. Not much time for any stare-down. The two grapplers do bow to each other before and after the match though.

On the final day, Aichi Prefecture (杉本 弘樹) won the men’s individual title by defeating Kanagawa, Tottori won the adult team title by defeating Wakayama, Tottori won the youth team title by defeating Saitama, and Wakayama won the youth’s individual title by defeating Tokyo.

Nagahama Dome was one of the most convenient venues, short walk from JR Tamura Station south of JR Nagahama Station. PR banners festooned the entrance area.

Boxing – 79th Japan Games, 2025 (Higashi-Omi)

Boxing – 79th Japan Games in Shiga (ボクシング)
When: September 29–October 3, 2025
Where: Notogawa Arena, Higashi-Omi (東近江市能登川アリーナ)
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tx4TyLCDiUAWRL9r9
Official: https://shiga-sports2025.jp/kokuspo/competition/k_boxing
Results: https://kirokukensaku.net/5NS25/discipline_100_20250929.html

The boxing venue had two boxing rings with fights held almost at the same time. Men were in eight weight classes from light flyweight to light heavyweight, women in flyweight only, and youth males in eight weight classes from pinweight to middleweight. No youth female boxers.

Scoring was done by five ringside judges. There were male and female referees. I visited on September 30, 2025 and saw two men’s lightweight matches.

Spectators came and went with each match, so it was easy to get a seat. The place was relatively civil and quiet, no wild crowds like in the movie Rocky.

Since the spectator seats were below the ring, it was hard to get good shots of the boxers’ faces with the ropes in the way.

Okayama Prefecture’s Mimura Hiroyuki takes a break in his corner with his coach fanning him with a towel. He won the match.

In-between matches, cleanup crew wipes off sweat from the ring floor.

In the other ring, men’s lightweight division: Shizuoka Prefecture (Shibata Reo, blue trunks) vs. Kagawa Prefecture (Onoue Jiyu, winner).

Shiga (墨 亮多) won the men’s middleweight class on the final day October 3. Congrats!

Souvenir and food stalls outside Notogawa Arena entrance. Notogawa Arena opened in August 2020 as a gymnasium with two basketball/volleyball courts. Totally enclosed and air conditioned. Spectator capacity is 250 fixed seats.

Entrance lobby had this nice welcome table with pamphlets flanked by flowers sent by prominent boxers like Yamanaka Shinsuke.

Notogawa Arena had infrequent shuttle buses from JR Notogawa Station West Exit. Otherwise, it was a 20-min. walk straight down the road. The arena was next to a soccer field.

Closing Ceremony (Hikone)

The 79th Japan Games Closing Ceremony was held on October 8, 2025 at Heiwado HATO Stadium in Hikone. Princess Kako, second daughter of Crown Prince Akishino, visited Shiga on October 7 and 8 to watch basketball and attend the Japan Games Closing Ceremony highlighted by the Blue Impulse aerobatic team flying over Hikone for the second time since June 2017.

She’s a charming and beloved Imperial family member especially after filling in for her older sister Mako who left the Imperial family to move to New York in 2021 with her commoner husband.

Her parents Crown Prince Akishino and wife Princess Kiko later attended the opening ceremony of the para-athlete games on October 25.

Look of the Japan Games

Unlike the Olympics, the Japan Games didn’t really have a uniform design or color scheme in Shiga. Each host city had its own designs and monikers like “Hikone 2025.” Only the official mascots were the same.

All those Koku-spo banners and signboards (わたSHIGA輝く国スポ・障スポ) we’ve seen at train stations and public facilities in Shiga can now be removed. It was getting a little overbearing to always see them in your face. Nice to see things returning to normal for now…

Next Japan Games in 2026, Aomori

The next Japan Games in 2026 will be in Aomori Prefecture. I can’t say “See you there!” since I don’t think I’ll be there. But if you’re in the neighborhood when it’s held next October, it’s worth seeing.

80th Japan Games (第80回国民スポーツ大会)

• When: October 10th–20th, 2026 (Para Games October 23rd–26th, 2026)
• Where: Aomori Prefecture
• Competitive sports: 37 (plus 14 para-sports)
• Official mascot: アップリート君
• Official website: https://aomorikokuspo2026.pref.aomori.lg.jp/

Photos of Japan Games (Koku-spo) quarterfinals women’s field hockey match between Shiga (navy blue) and Yamanashi Prefecture at OSP Hockey Stadium near Mt. Ibuki in Maibara on Oct. 2, 2025 at 12:20 pm. The match was tied at 2-2, but Shiga won in a shootout (3-1). For details, see my main post about the 2025 Japan Games in Shiga.

2025年 国スポ ホッケー 成年女子 準々決勝 滋賀 vs. 山梨（山梨学院大）（２−２、SO 3-1）
OSPホッケースタジアム（滋賀県立伊吹運動場）2025年10月02日 12:20 

Field Hockey – 79th Japan Games in Shiga (ホッケー)
When: October 1st–5th, 2025
Where: OSP Hockey Stadium and Maibara Ibuki No. 1 Field, Maibara (OSPホッケースタジアム、米原市伊吹第1グラウンド)
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/6tQVMunZAUeXLktu7
Official: https://shiga-sports2025.jp/competition/k_hockey
https://kokutai.hockey.or.jp/
Results: https://kirokukensaku.net/5NS25/discipline_090_20251001.html

Player’s results (結果): https://heart-hockey.com/wp-content/themes/2021system/uploads/Official_2025%E5%9B%BD%E6%B0%91%E3%82%B9%E3%83%9D%E3%83%BC%E3%83%84%E5%A4%A7%E4%BC%9A_%E6%88%90%E5%B9%B4%E5%A5%B3%E5%AD%90_2025-10-02_No(7).pdf

Click on thumbnails to enlarge the photo. サムネイルをクリックすると拡大できます。

少年女子 準々決勝　福井 (丹生高) vs. 島根 (横田高) 

米原市伊吹第1グラウンド 2025年10月02日 14:00 

L-R: JR Maibara Station hockey banner, JR Omi-Nagaoka Station info booth, and Yamato Takeru statue on the way to hockey venue in Ibuki.

Also see my main post about the 2025 Japan Games in Shiga.