“Where is Shiga Prefecture?”
My beloved hometown of Shiga is one of the lesser known prefectures, even people living in Japan aren’t quite aware of. I was born and raised  by Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake, and mountains lush with the richness of nature. In the summers I would swim in Lake Biwa, and the winters were spent skiing and snowboarding in the mountains. Lake Biwa is so vast, that as a child I did not understand the difference between the lake and the ocean. I remember my first visit to the sea, I was so surprised to find that seawater is so salty.

Lake Biwa is known as the largest lake in Japan in terms of both surface area, and water storage capacity. The water from Lake Biwa flows into Osaka Bay via the Seta River, Uji River, and Yodo River, providing drinking water to not only Shiga Prefecture, but to 14.5 million people in the Kinki Region. It is also used for agricultural and industrial purposes.

The neighboring more popular cities of Osaka and Kyoto often poke fun at the obscurity of Shiga, but we have a running joke of telling them, “We’ll just shut off the water from Lake Biwa then.”

When you are in Japan, I hope you have a chance to visit.

https://www.ana.co.jp/ja/jp/domtour/theme/recommend/tabizukan/kansai/biwako.htm