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. In 2020 (the 2nd year of Reiwa), Shiga Prefecture had a population of 1,413,610, ranking 26th among all prefectures; an area of , ranking 38th among all prefectures; and a population density of , ranking 15th among all prefectures.
Shiga Prefecture currently consists of 13 cities and 6 towns, totaling 19 municipalities. 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 , while the smallest is Toyosato at . Kusatsu has the highest population density at , whereas Higashiōmi has the lowest at . 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. They can be further subdivided into subregions including Otsu, Southern, Koka, Higashiomi, Koto, Kohoku, and Takashima.
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 and the Kadokawa Nihon Chimei Daijiten ().
+ Regions, subregions, and municipalities of Shiga Prefecture Region Subregion Municipality Konan (south) Otsu Otsu Southern Kusatsu, Moriyama, Rittō, Yasu Koka Kōka, Konan 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 and the Statistical Reports on the Land Area by Prefectures, Subprefectures, and Municipalities in Japan published by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) 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).
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+ List of municipalities in Shiga Prefecture Name Code Establishment Population(2020) Area(km²) Populationdensity(/km²) Flag Emblem Map English Japanese Date Method Shiga Prefecture Shiga Prefecture (Shiga-ken) 25000 1872 Reorganized from Otsu Prefecture 1,413,610 4,017.38 351.9 Cities (Shi) Otsu* (Ōtsu-shi) 25201 1898 Reorganized from Ōtsu Town (Ōtsu-chō) 345,070 † 464.51 742.9 Hikone (Hikone-shi) 25202 1937(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 (Nagahama-shi) 25203 1943(Shōwa 18)Nishikuroda Village, and Kanda Village 113,636 681.02 166.9 Ōmihachiman (Ōmihachiman-shi) 25204 1954(Shōwa 29) Merged from Hachiman Town, Okayama Village, Kaneda Village, Kirihara Village, and Mabuchi Village 81,122 177.45 457.2 Kusatsu (Kusatsu-shi) 25206 1954(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 (Moriyama-shi) 25207 1970(Shōwa 45) Reorganized from Moriyama Town (Moriyama-chō) 83,236 55.74 1,493.3 Rittō (Rittō-shi) 25208 2001(Heisei 13) Reorganized from Rittō Town (Rittō-chō) 68,820 52.69 1,306.1 Kōka (Kōka-shi) 25209 2004(Heisei 16) Merged from Minakuchi Town, Tsuchiyama Town, Kōka Town, Kōnan Town, and Shigaraki Town 88,358 481.62 183.5 Yasu (Yasu-shi) 25210 2004(Heisei 16) Merged from Chūzu Town and Yasu Town Konan (Konan-shi) 25211 2004(Heisei 16) Merged from Ishibe Town and Kōsei Town 54,460 70.40 773.6 Takashima (Takashima-shi) 25212 2005(Heisei 17) Merged from Makino Town, Imazu Town, Shinasahi Town, Adogawa Town, and Takashima Town 46,377 693.05 † 66.9 Higashiōmi (Higashiōmi-shi) 25213 2005(Heisei 17) Merged from Yōkaichi, Eigenji Town, Gokashō Town, Aitō Town, and Kotō Town 112,819 388.37 46.3 ‡ Maibara (Maibara-shi) 25214 2005(Heisei 17) Merged from Maibara Town, Ibuki Town, and Santō Town 37,225 250.39 148.7 Gamō District (Gamō-gun) Hino (Hino-chō) 25383 1889(Meiji 22) Established directly with the municipal system implementation 20,964 117.60 178.3 Ryūō (Ryūō-chō) 25384 1955(Shōwa 30) Merged from Naemura Village and Kagamiyama Village 11,789 44.55 264.6 Echi District (Echi-gun) Aishō (Aishō-chō) 25425 2006(Heisei 18) Merged from Hatashō Town and Echigawa Town 20,893 37.97 550.3 Inukami District (Inukami-gun) Toyosato (Toyosato-chō) 25441 1971(Shōwa 46) Reclassified from Toyosato Village 7,132 7.80 ‡ 914.4 Kōra (Kōra-chō) 25442 1955(Shōwa 30) Merged from Higashikōra Village and Nishikōra Village 6,362 ‡ 13.63 466.8 Taga (Taga-chō) 25443 1941(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
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