Ōmihachiman

Ōmihachiman 近江八幡市
City
Old city view from Mt. Hachiman
Flag Seal
Location of Ōmihachiman in Shiga Prefecture
Ōmihachiman Location in Japan
Coordinates: 35°07′42″N 136°5′53″E / 35.12833°N 136.09806°E / 35.12833; 136.09806Coordinates: 35°07′42″N 136°5′53″E / 35.12833°N 136.09806°E / 35.12833; 136.09806
Country	Japan
Region	Kansai
Prefecture	Shiga Prefecture
Government
• Mayor	Osamu Konishi <小西　理> (from April 2018)
Area
• Total	177.45 km2 (68.51 sq mi)
Population  (1 April 2018)
• Total	82,116
• Density	462.76/km2 (1,198.5/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+09:00 (JST)
City hall address	236 Sakuragi-chō, Ōmihachiman-shi, Shiga-ken 523-8501
Website	www.city.omihachiman.shiga.jp
Symbols Flower Salvia Tree Azalea, Sakura

Ōmihachiman (近江八幡市, Ōmihachiman-shi) is a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on March 31, 1954. In the quinquennial census of 2010, it has a population of 81,730 (2005: 80,610)^[1] and a population density of 1,062 persons per km². The total area is 76.97 km².

On March 21, 2010, the town of Azuchi (from Gamō District) was merged into Ōmihachiman.

Naming[]

"Ōmihachiman" means "Hachiman in Ōmi". When Hachiman Town (the forerunner of this city) became a city, there was the existing city of Yahata in Fukuoka Prefecture. In Japanese, "Hachiman" and "Yahata" are written with the same kanji, so "Ōmi" was added to avoid confusion. "Hachiman" is the Shinto god of war. His symbol is the dove.

History[]

Ōmihachiman had been a developed commercial town even since Toyotomi Hidetsugu built a castle and gathered many merchants in the last part of 16th century. Former merchant's residences and a canal used for transport are preserved in an old city area, designated a Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings^[2] and an Important Cultural Landscape.^[3]

In 1905, an American architect William Merrell Vories came to Ōmihachiman as an English language teacher at commercial high school. Two years later he resigned the original work, but he remained in Ōmihachiman and spent most of his productive life here. He handed down western-style buildings, a pharmaceutical company, an educational foundation and a hospital to the city.

Education[]

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Sister cities[]

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Within Japan[]

• Fujinomiya, Shizuoka
• Matsumae, Hokkaidō

Outside Japan[]

• Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
• Leavenworth, Kansas, United States
• Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea
• Mantua, Lombardy, Italy

Places of interest[]

Hachiman area

• Himure Hachimangū - The largest shrine in Ōmihachiman which was the name origin of the city name "Hachiman".
  • Sagichō Festival - A fire festival in every March which is held in the old city area and the Himure Hachimangū.
• Hachimanyama Castle - Toyotomi Hidetsugu's castle. Hachimanyama Ropeway services between the mountaintop and Himure Hachimangū.
• Hachiman-bori canal
• Suigō meguri - In the northeast of the city central, sightseeing boats service through the rural lagoon.
• Kawara Museum
• Lake Biwa
  • Okishima Island - A fishing island which is the only inhabited lake island in Japan.
  • Isaki no Sao-tobi - A water festival in every August which tests men's courage to jump into the lake from the Isaki Temple.
• Musa-juku

Azuchi area

• Azuchi Castle

Notable people[]

• Takashi Inui (born 1988), footballer
• (Born 1999), livestreamer who committed suicide by jumping from her apartment's emergency stairway

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Omihachiman, Shiga.

• Ōmihachiman City official website (in Japanese)
• Ōmihachiman Tourism Association (in Japanese)