Administrative divisions of Shiga Prefecture
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Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture located in the Kansai region of Japan. It was established from Otsu Prefecture in January 1872 (the 5th year of Meiji), merged with Inukami Prefecture in September of the same year, integrated into Fukui Prefecture in 1876, and separated from Fukui Prefecture in 1881 to become the current Shiga Prefecture.[1] In 2020 (the 2nd year of Reiwa), Shiga Prefecture had a population of 1,413,610, ranking 26th among all prefectures;[2] an area of 4,017.38 km2 (1,551.12 sq mi), ranking 38th among all prefectures;[3] and a population density of 351.9/km2 (911/sq mi), ranking 15th among all prefectures.[2]
| Administrative divisions of Shiga Prefecture | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Category | Municipality |
| Location |  Shiga Prefecture |
| Number | 19 (13 cities, 6 towns) |
| Populations | 6,362 (Kōra) – 345,070 (Ōtsu) |
| Areas | 7.80 km² (Toyosato) – 693.05 km² (Takashima) |
| Government | |
Shiga Prefecture currently consists of 13 cities and 6 towns, totaling 19 municipalities.[4] Otsu is the capital of Shiga Prefecture and the prefecture's only core city; it is also the most populous municipality with 345,070 inhabitants. The least populous municipality is Kōra, with 6,362 people. The largest municipality by area is Takashima, covering 693.05 km2 (267.59 sq mi), while the smallest is Toyosato at 7.80 km2 (3.01 sq mi). Kusatsu has the highest population density at 2,122.0/km2 (5,496/sq mi), whereas Higashiōmi has the lowest at 46.3/km2 (120/sq mi). In addition, Shiga Prefecture has 3 districts, which lie above the 6 towns but possess no administrative power and are not considered standard administrative divisions. According to traditional regional classifications, the municipalities of Shiga Prefecture can be divided into Konan (south), Koto (east), Kosei (west), and Kohoku (north) regions based on their relative positions to Lake Biwa at the center of the prefecture.[5] They can be further subdivided into subregions including Otsu, Southern, Koka, Higashiomi, Koto, Kohoku, and Takashima.[4]
Relationship between regions, subregions, and municipalities
The table below lists the correspondence between the regions, subregions, and municipalities of Shiga Prefecture. The relevant data is sourced from the official website of the Shiga Prefectural Government[4] and the Kadokawa Nihon Chimei Daijiten (角川日本地名大辞典).[5]
| Region | Subregion | Municipality |
|---|---|---|
| Konan (south) | Otsu | Otsu |
| Southern | Kusatsu, Moriyama, Rittō, Yasu | |
| Koka | Kōka, Konan | |
| Koto (east, broad) | Koto (east, narrow) | Hikone, Aishō, Kōra, Taga, Toyosato |
| Higashiomi | Higashiōmi, Ōmihachiman, Hino, Ryūō | |
| Kohoku (north) | Nagahama, Maibara | |
| Kosei (west) | Takashima | Takashima |
List of municipalities
The table below lists the municipalities of Shiga Prefecture, including their English and Japanese names, date and method of establishment, area, population, population density, flags, emblems, and maps, sorted by their Local Authority Code (JIS code). The Japanese names are provided with furigana to indicate their pronunciation. Data such as JIS codes, area, population, and population density are sourced from the 2020 Census of Japan|National Census[2] and the Statistical Reports on the Land Area by Prefectures, Subprefectures, and Municipalities in Japan published by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI)[3] of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The unit for area is square kilometers (km²), population is measured in number of people, and population density is expressed in people per square kilometer (people/km²).
† : Maximum value among municipalities |
‡ : Minimum value among municipalities |
| Name | Code | Establishment | Population (2020) |
Area (km²) |
Population density (/km²) |
Flag | Emblem | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Japanese | Date | Method | |||||||
| Shiga Prefecture | ||||||||||
| Shiga Prefecture | 滋賀県 (Shiga-ken) | 25000 | 1872[1] (Meiji 5) |
Reorganized from Otsu Prefecture | 1,413,610 | 4,017.38 | 351.9 |  |
 |
|
| Cities (Shi) | ||||||||||
| Otsu* | 大津市 (Ōtsu-shi) | 25201 | 1898[6] (Meiji 31) |
Reorganized from Ōtsu Town (Ōtsu-chō) | 345,070 † | 464.51 | 742.9 |  |
 |
 |
| Hikone | 彦根市 (Hikone-shi) | 25202 | 1937[7] (Shōwa 12) |
Merged from Hikone Town, Kita-Aoyagi Village, Matsubara Village, Aonami Village, Fukumitsu Village, and Chimoto Village | 113,647 | 196.87 | 577.3 |  |
 |
 |
| Nagahama | 長浜市 (Nagahama-shi) | 25203 | 1943[8] (Shōwa 18) |
Merged from Nagahama Town,Kamiteru Village, Rokusō Village, Minamigōri Village, Kitagōri Village, |Nishikuroda Village, and Kanda Village | 113,636 | 681.02 | 166.9 |  |
 |
 |
| Ōmihachiman | 近江八幡市 (Ōmihachiman-shi) | 25204 | 1954[9] (Shōwa 29) |
Merged from Hachiman Town, Okayama Village, Kaneda Village, Kirihara Village, and Mabuchi Village | 81,122 | 177.45 | 457.2 |  |
 |
 |
| Kusatsu | 草津市 (Kusatsu-shi) | 25206 | 1954[10] (Shōwa 29) |
Merged from Kusatsu Town, Shizu Village, Oigami Village, Yamada Village, Kasanui Village, and Tokiwa Village | 143,913 | 67.82 | 2,122.0 † |  |
 |
 |
| Moriyama | 守山市 (Moriyama-shi) | 25207 | 1970[11] (Shōwa 45) |
Reorganized from Moriyama Town (Moriyama-chō) | 83,236 | 55.74 | 1,493.3 |  |
 |
 |
| Rittō | 栗東市 (Rittō-shi) | 25208 | 2001[12] (Heisei 13) |
Reorganized from Rittō Town (Rittō-chō) | 68,820 | 52.69 | 1,306.1 | .svg) |
.svg) |
 |
| Kōka | 甲賀市 (Kōka-shi) | 25209 | 2004[13] (Heisei 16) |
Merged from Minakuchi Town, Tsuchiyama Town, Kōka Town, Kōnan Town, and Shigaraki Town | 88,358 | 481.62 | 183.5 |  |
 |
 |
| Yasu | 野洲市 (Yasu-shi) | 25210 | 2004[14] (Heisei 16) |
Merged from Chūzu Town and Yasu Town | ||||||
| Konan | 湖南市 (Konan-shi) | 25211 | 2004[15] (Heisei 16) |
Merged from Ishibe Town and Kōsei Town | 54,460 | 70.40 | 773.6 |  |
 |
 |
| Takashima | 高島市 (Takashima-shi) | 25212 | 2005[16] (Heisei 17) |
Merged from Makino Town, Imazu Town, Shinasahi Town, Adogawa Town, and Takashima Town | 46,377 | 693.05 † | 66.9 |  |
 |
 |
| Higashiōmi | 東近江市 (Higashiōmi-shi) | 25213 | 2005[17] (Heisei 17) |
Merged from Yōkaichi, Eigenji Town, Gokashō Town, Aitō Town, and Kotō Town | 112,819 | 388.37 | 46.3 ‡ |  |
 |
 |
| Maibara | 米原市 (Maibara-shi) | 25214 | 2005[18] (Heisei 17) |
Merged from Maibara Town, Ibuki Town, and Santō Town | 37,225 | 250.39 | 148.7 |  |
 |
 |
| Gamō District (Gamō-gun) | ||||||||||
| Hino | 日野町 (Hino-chō) | 25383 | 1889[19] (Meiji 22) |
Established directly with the municipal system implementation | 20,964 | 117.60 | 178.3 |  |
 |
 |
| Ryūō | 竜王町 (Ryūō-chō) | 25384 | 1955[20] (Shōwa 30) |
Merged from Naemura Village and Kagamiyama Village | 11,789 | 44.55 | 264.6 |  |
 |
 |
| Echi District (Echi-gun) | ||||||||||
| Aishō | 愛荘町 (Aishō-chō) | 25425 | 2006[21] (Heisei 18) |
Merged from Hatashō Town and Echigawa Town | 20,893 | 37.97 | 550.3 |  |
 |
 |
| Inukami District (Inukami-gun) | ||||||||||
| Toyosato | 豊郷町 (Toyosato-chō) | 25441 | 1971[22] (Shōwa 46) |
Reclassified from Toyosato Village | 7,132 | 7.80 ‡ | 914.4 |  |
 |
 |
| Kōra | 甲良町 (Kōra-chō) | 25442 | 1955[23] (Shōwa 30) |
Merged from Higashikōra Village and Nishikōra Village | 6,362 ‡ | 13.63 | 466.8 |  |
 |
 |
| Taga | 多賀町 (Taga-chō) | 25443 | 1941[24] (Shōwa 16) |
Merged from Taga Village, Seritani Village, and Kyūtoku Village | 7,274 | 135.77 | 53.6 |  |
 |
 |
See also
- Administrative divisions of Japan (prefectures, municipalities)
- List of local governments in Japan (Shiga Prefecture)
- List of dissolved municipalities of Shiga Prefecture