{{Infobox settlement | name = Ōmihachiman | official_name = | native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|ja|近江八幡市}}}} | native_name_lang = ja | settlement_type = City | other_name = | image_skyline = Flickr - yeowatzup - Mount Hachiman, Omihachiman, Shiga, Japan.jpg | image_caption = Old city view from Mt. Hachiman | image_flag = Flag of Omihachiman, Shiga.svg | image_seal = Emblem of Ōmihachiman, Shiga.svg | image_map = Omihachiman in Shiga prefecture Ja.svg | map_caption = Location of Ōmihachiman in Shiga Prefecture | pushpin_map = Japan | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Japan | coordinates = {{coord|35|07|42|N|136|5|53|E|region:JP|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Japan | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = Kansai | subdivision_type2 = Prefecture | subdivision_name2 = Shiga Prefecture | subdivision_type3 = District | subdivision_name3 = | established_title = First official recorded | established_date = 131 AD (official) | established_title2 = Hachiman of Shiga, town settled | established_date2 = April 1, 1889 | established_title3 = City settled | established_date3 = March 31, 1954<ref>Sourse:History of Omi Hachiman, publish by 2026 edition of Omihachiman city '''(Japanese language edition)''' Retrieved on April 23, 2026</ref> | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Hisashi Tokunaga (徳永久志) - from April 2026 | leader_title1 = Vice Mayor | leader_name1 = | unit_pref = Metric | area_total_km2 = 177.45 | population_total = 82233 | population_as_of = 31 August 2021 | population_density_km2 = auto | timezone1 = JST | utc_offset1 = +09:00 | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | blank_name_sec2 = Phone number | blank_info_sec2 = 0748-33-3111 | blank_name_sec1 = City hall address | blank_info_sec1 = 236 Sakuragi-chō, Ōmihachiman-shi, Shiga-ken<br />523-8501 | website = {{Official website|www.city.omihachiman.shiga.jp}} | module = {{Infobox region symbols| embedded=yes | tree = Azalea, Sakura | flower = Salvia | bird = | butterfly = | fish = }} }} thumb|right|260px|City Hall thumb|260px|Snowy evening in Ōmihachiman, 2022 thumb|right|260px|Traditional buildings Preservation Area {{nihongo|'''Ōmihachiman'''|近江八幡市|Ōmihachiman-shi}} is a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. {{As of|2021|08|31}}, the city had an estimated population of 82,233 in 34747 households and a population density of 570 persons per km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name="Ōmihachiman-hp">{{cite web |url=https://www.city.hikone.lg.jp/kakuka/shimin_kankyo/2/2/3132.html|title= Ōmihachiman city official statistics|location= Japan|language= ja}}</ref> The total area of the city is {{convert|76.97|sqkm|sqmi}}.
==Geography== Ōmihachiman is located in central Shiga Prefecture, on flatlands along the eastern shore of Lake Biwa, and extending inland to the foothills of the Suzuka Mountains.
===Neighboring municipalities=== Shiga Prefecture *Higashiōmi *Ryūō *Yasu
===Climate=== Ōmihachiman has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ōmihachiman is 14.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1602 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.7 °C.<ref>[https://en.climate-data.org/asia/japan/shiga/omihachiman-4801/ Ōmihachiman climate data]</ref>
==Demographics== Per Japanese census data,<ref>[https://www.citypopulation.de/php/japan-shiga.php Ōmihachiman population statistics]</ref> the population of Ōmihachiman has recently plateaued after several decades of growth.
{{Historical populations | 1950 | 54,461 | 1960 | 52,756 | 1970 | 52,171 | 1980 | 70,772 | 1990 | 77,730 | 2000 | 78,669 | 2010 | 81,738 | 2020 | 81,122 |align = none | footnote = }}
==History== Ōmihachiman is part of ancient Ōmi Province and was originally a post station that developed around Musa-juku on the Tōsandō (later the Nakasendō) highway connecting Heian-kyō with the eastern provinces. During the Sengoku period, the warlord Oda Nobunaga built Azuchi Castle in the hills on the border with Higashiōmi. Under Toyotomi Hidetsugu the center shifted to a castle town at the base of Hachimanyama Castle, which attracted many merchants ("Ōmi shōnin"), especially after the destruction of Azuchi Castle. Former merchant's residences and a canal used for transport are preserved in an old city area, designated a Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/103/15|title=Database of Registered National Cultural Properties|publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs|accessdate=6 September 2011}}</ref> and an Important Cultural Landscape.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/412/00003482|title=Database of Registered National Cultural Properties|publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs|accessdate=29 April 2011}}</ref>
The town of Hachiman was established with Gamō District, Shiga with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. In 1905, an American architect William Merrell Vories came to Ōmihachiman as an English language teacher at commercial high school. Two years later he resigned the original work, but he remained in Ōmihachiman and spent most of his productive life here. He handed down western-style buildings, a pharmaceutical company, an educational foundation and a hospital to the city. The town expanded by annexing the neighboring villages of Utsuro in 1933 and Shima in 1951. On March 31, 1954, Hachiman merged with the villages of Okayama, Kanada, Kirihara and Mabuchi to form the city of Ōmihachiman. The name was changed from "Hachiman" to "Ōmihachiman" to avoid confusion with the then existing city of Yahata in Fukuoka Prefecture, as both "Hachiman" and "Yawata" are written in the same ''kanji'' characters. On March 21, 2010, the town of Azuchi was merged into Ōmihachiman.
==Government== Ōmihachiman has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 24 members. Ōmihachiman contributes three members to the Shiga Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Shiga 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan, and is represented by Kenichiro Ueno. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-28 |title=公職選挙法の一部を改正する法律 |url=https://www.shugiin.go.jp/internet/itdb_housei.nsf/html/housei/21020221128089.htm |access-date=2025-02-04 |publisher=Shugiin}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=衆議院選挙2024 滋賀(大津・彦根など)開票速報・選挙結果|url=https://www.nhk.or.jp/senkyo/database/shugiin/25/ |access-date=2025-02-17 |publisher=NHK}}</ref>
==Economy== Agriculture, commercial fishing and seasonal tourism are major components of the economy of Ōmihachiman. The key industries of Ōmihachiman include the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.
==Education== Ōmihachiman has 12 public elementary schools and four public middle schools operated by the city government and three high schools operated by the Shiga Prefectural Department of Education. The city also has one private elementary school, one private middle school and one private high school.
==Transportation== ===Railway=== 20px JR West – Biwako Line * {{STN|Azuchi|x}} - {{STN|Ōmi-Hachiman|x}} - {{STN|Shinohara|x|Shiga}} 20px Ohmi Railway – Main Line * {{STN|Musa|x|Shiga}} - {{STN|Ōmi-Hachiman|x}}
===Highway=== * {{jct|country=JPN|Route|8}} * {{jct|country=JPN|Route|421}} * {{jct|country=JPN|Route|477}}
== Sister cities == Ōmihachiman is twinned with:<ref>[https://www.city.omihachiman.lg.jp/soshiki/machizukuri/4/1/1268.html Ōmihachiman official home page]</ref>
=== Within Japan === *{{flagicon|JPN}} Fujinomiya, Shizuoka *{{flagicon|JPN}} Matsumae, Hokkaidō
=== Outside Japan === *{{flagicon|USA}} Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, friendship city since 1986 *{{flagicon|USA}} Leavenworth, Kansas, United States, sister city since 1997 *{{flagicon|Italy}} Mantua, Lombardy, Italy, friendship city since 2005 *{{flagicon|Korea}} Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, friendship city since 1994
==Places of interest== Hachiman area *Dainaka Lake Minami Site, Yayoi period settlement trace, National Historic Site * Himure Hachiman-gū - The largest shrine in Ōmihachiman and the origin of the city name "Hachiman". ** Sagichō Festival - A fire festival in every March which is held in the old city area and the Himure Hachimangū. * Hachimanyama Castle - Toyotomi Hidetsugu's castle. Hachimanyama Ropeway services between the mountaintop and Himure Hachimangū. * Hachiman-bori canal * Suigō meguri - In the northeast of the city central, sightseeing boats service through the rural lagoon. * Kawara Museum * Lake Biwa ** {{Wikidata fallback link|Q2017235}} - A fishing island which is the only inhabited lake island in Japan. ** Isaki no Sao-tobi - A water festival in every August which tests men's courage to jump into the lake from the Isaki Temple. * Musa-juku Azuchi area * Azuchi Castle, Special National Historic Site *Azuchi-Hyōtanyama Kofun, National Historic Site *Chōmei-ji, 31st temple of the {{nihongo|Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage|西国三十三箇所|Saigoku sanjūsankasho}} * Kannonji Castle ruins, National Historic Site *Kannonshō-ji, 32nd temple of the {{nihongo|Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage|西国三十三箇所|Saigoku sanjūsankasho}} *Oiso Shrine, National Historic Site *Yukinoyama Kofun, National Historic Site
==Notable people== * Kota Aoki, football player * Rikako Yagi, fashion model and actress * Takashi Inui, football player * Yukiko Inui, artistic swimmer * Tatsuo Kawabata, politician * Kazuyo Matsui, actress * Miku Tanabe, entertainer * ''Rorochan_1999'' (1999–2013) - Infamous suicide of 14-year-old girl during a livestream on 24 November 2013. * Merrell Vories Hitotsuyanagi (1880–1964) - American, later Japanese Christian missionary-architect
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{commons category|Omihachiman, Shiga}} * {{Official website|http://www.city.omihachiman.shiga.jp|Ōmihachiman City official website}} {{in lang|ja}} * [http://www.omi8.com/index1.htm Ōmihachiman Tourism Association] {{in lang|ja}}
{{Shiga}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omihachiman, Shiga}} Category:Cities in Shiga Prefecture Category:Ōmihachiman Category:Populated lakeshore places in Japan