nagahama, shiga

i was in sendai for the past few days, but here’re some pictures from Nagahama in Shiga Prefecture from about a month ago.

nagahama is famous for glass; this says “Nagahama Eki (station)”

i think the kanji for shiga is beautiful:

Nagahama Castle overlooking a park:

i got a little carried away with pictures of this pretty stone lamp and Lake Biwa:

Lake Biwa is pretty from afar, but really dirty and gross up close:

cool glass design at the station:

kawaii!:

the corner of Kurokabe Square and the main shotengai:

Awesome stuff – i’m gonna watch kabuki this saturday, and i’m pretty excited about it:

pretty glass studio:

this was rather cool:

i dont really know what this sculpture was meant to be about – it’s a kitsune in some strange looking sack thingy, which reminds me a little of those body suits some japanese comedians wear on tv:

tranquil sights:

i visited the biggest temple in the main town square area; there were students there on a school excursion, and the most life-like dragon carving i’ve seen so far:

there’s a giant kaleidoscope in Nagahama; Nagahama is meant to be the most popular tourist destination in Shiga too:

 

there were some strange statues, sculptures and a stalls in the area surrounding the kaleidoscope too:

i really liked the side of this building too:

the verdict is that Nagahama is quite a nice place to head to for a short daytrip, although it’s definitely not on the list of must go places, as there really isn’t that much to see. It apparently can get a little busy on weekends; it certainly wasn’t empty when i was there on a weekday. The glass goods there aren’t that varied (i think there were more in Takayama), and if you’ve been in Japan long enough, most of the ‘japanese souvenirs’ there wouldnt be too different from what you’ve seen elsewhere in Kyoto, for example.

Nagahama’s rather pretty though, and if you find yourself wanting to visit Shiga – like i was – it’s certainly not a bad choice!