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Photo: Nryate / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Otsu City
Shiga Prefecture · City
- Core city
- Prefectural capital
Official websiteShiga Prefecture page
Otsu City is the prefectural capital, an old capital on the southwest shore of Lake Biwa. Its history begins with Emperor Tenji's Omi Otsu Palace, and many old temples and shrines remain, such as Enryaku-ji Temple, a World Cultural Heritage Site, Onjo-ji (known as Mii-dera Temple) and Ishiyama-dera. Seta no Karahashi bridge, Ogoto Onsen and Omi Jingu, the "holy place" of karuta cards, are also highlights.
Key facts
Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2025 Population Census (population, area and density); area from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI), Area Statistics of Prefectures and Municipalities (2025). National ranks are among the 1,741 municipalities, ordered by this site from these values.
Live information
Current weather (observed)
Places to visit
Chosen automatically, most popular first, from landmarks and cultural properties registered in Wikidata (we have not checked whether each is open). Names and descriptions: Wikidata (CC0); photos: Wikimedia Commons (photographer and license under each photo).
Mountains in this city
Mountains whose summit is in this municipality (mountains of 800 m or higher on this site's map, and mountains in the famous-mountain lists). Elevations from Wikidata and other sources.
Neighboring municipalities
Municipalities sharing a boundary (computed from the National Land Numerical Information administrative boundaries, January 2021).
Other municipalities in Shiga Prefecture
The description was written for this site, picking out representative features.