Ryuo-cho, Shiga

From PHOTOGUIDE.JP

This page is 65% complete. Last updated: Aug. 2, 2010

by Philbert Ono

Ryuo (also Ryuoh or Ryuou) (竜王町; Ryūō-chō) is a town in eastern Shiga Prefecture.

Although it looks very rural with rice paddies, farming accounts for only a small percentage of the town's economy. The Daihatsu car factory and other heavy industries and service industries make up the lion's share. Sooner or later, you will see large factories amid the farm land.

Ryuo is taking the tourist spotlight in 2010, thanks to the opening of the new Mitsui Outlet Park, Shiga Ryuo in July 2010. The mall's 165 shops have been attracting large numbers of shoppers.

Ryuo is one of Shiga's few small towns which has resisted merging with a neighboring municipality. Perhaps its large Daihatsu factory and Mitsui Outlet Park affords a revenue stream to keep the town as is. Although Ryuo is a separate municipality, for practical purposes it seems more like a suburb of Omi-Hachiman. From Ryuo, you can see Mt. Hachimanyama in central Omi-Hachiman. Ryuo means "dragon king."

Sights

Kenketo Matsuri	Agri-Park Ryuo	Yuge Fire Festival

• Namura Shrine 苗村神社 - Facing a busy road in the center of Ryuo-cho, Namura Jinja Shrine is noted for its elegant-looking, thatched-roof main gate and Nishi Honden hall which is a National Treasure. The shrine's architecture is from the Kamakura Period.
• Mt. Kagamiyama - Noted for hiking trails and old kilns.
• Mt. Yukinoyama 雪野山 - On the east side of Ryuo, this ancient mountain is home to over 200 tumuli built during the 5th to 7th centuries. It also has a few hiking trails. It takes about 90-120 min. to go up and down the mountain. There are some fine views from the trails. At the foot is Ryuoji Temple (龍王寺) and Tenjin Shrine.
• Mitsui Outlet Park, Shiga Ryuo - Opened on July 8, 2010, the mall is near the Ryuo Interchange on the Meishin Expressway, making it readily accessible by car for shoppers coming from Kyoto, Nara, Mie, and Gifu. It also targets Chinese tourists traveling from the Kansai area to Mt. Fuji and further. Merchants do accept Chinese credit/debit cards. It is the first outlet mall in the Kyoto-Shiga area. The two-level mall has 165 stores, 145 of which are outlet shops. Most are clothing shops and some are first-time outlet shops. There are many big names including Burberry, Gap Outlet, Barney’s New York Outlet, Armani, Paul Smith, Coach, Beams, Ralph Lauren, Nike, Bebe, Edwin, Vans, Levi’s, Puma, and Adidas. The shops open from 10 am to 8 pm. Buses run from Omi-Hachiman and Yasu Stations.
• Agri-Park Ryuo - A local farmer's market where they sell local produce. There's also a pond with swan boats, farm museum, and petting zoo. Great for the kids.

Event Calendar

• April 20 - Namura Matsuri Festival 苗村祭 - A Shinto ceremony and procession of horses and portable shrines starting at 4 pm at Namura Shrine.
• May 1 - Yuge Fire Festival 弓削の火祭り (Yuge no Hi Matsuri) is held by a small shrine called Kobiyoshi Jinja on the evening of May 1. After small torches, tossing flares, lots of firecrackers, and fireworks, two giant torches made of straw are set afire as well as other fireworks on the ground.
• May 3 - Kenketo Matsuri ケンケト祭り is held annually by a few Shinto shrines in Ryuo and neighboring Higashi-Omi. The festival is mainly a naginata (pole sword) dance and procession by boys dressed in costume. The main venue is Suginoki Shrine in Yamanoue, Ryuo.

Travel Tips

• If you're using public transportation, you will likely get off at Omi-Hachiman Station. This train station has a tourist info office and they can tell you which bus to take to get to Ryuo.

Getting There

By Train

Although Ryuo has no train station, buses from Omi-Hachiman run to Ryuo often enough, especially if you want to go to the outlet mall.

Train Lines & Stations

• None

Travel Time

• From Tokyo Station to Maibara Station: 2.5 hours via JR Tokaido Shinkansen Hikari. All Kodama trains and a few faster Hikari trains (about once an hour) stop at Maibara.

By Bus

• From Omi-Hachiman Station: 20 min.

Nearest Airports

• Kansai International Airport
• Central Japan International Airport (Centrair)
• Osaka International Airport

Getting Around

By train

No trains in Ryuo.

By bus

Buses from Omi-Hachiman Station run within Ryuo. If the bus schedule does not match your schedule, take a taxi.

By bicycle

No rental bicycles in Ryuo.

Maps

Google Map placemarks have English text.

View Ryuo, Shiga Prefecture in a larger map

• Sightseeing Map of Ryuo

Photos

Yuge Fire Festival	Dragon at Agri-Park

More photos at Ryuo Photos. More Shiga photos here.

Videos

Click on the video image to start playing the video.

More Shiga videos here.

History

• 2005 -

Miscellaneous

Recent News

The latest five headlines for Ryuo from Shiga News are displayed below. Click to view the latest stories.

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More news about Ryuo here.

Ryuo articles in The Japan Times.

Trivia

Famous People

Lastname firstname (1800-1900)

Description

Side Trips

Other sights in neighboring cities/towns within easy reach from Ryuo.

• Omi-Hachiman

Related Articles

• Shiga Prefecture
• Shiga Prefecture Sights
• Shiga Prefecture Transportation
• Shiga Prefecture Municipalities

External Links

• Ryuo Town Hall (English)
• shiga-ken.com - Comprehensive guide to Shiga Prefecture.

Municipalities of Shiga Prefecture 滋賀県

Cities & Towns: Aisho-cho | Higashi-Omi | Hikone | Hino-cho | Koka | Konan | Kora-cho | Kusatsu | Maibara | Moriyama | Nagahama | Omi-Hachiman | Otsu | Ritto | Ryuo-cho | Taga-cho | Takashima | Toyosato-cho | Yasu

愛荘町 | 東近江市 | 彦根市 | 日野町 | 甲賀市 | 湖南市 | 甲良町 | 草津市 | 米原市 | 守山市 | 長浜市 | 近江八幡市 | 大津市 | 栗東市 | 竜王町 | 多賀町 | 高島市 | 豊郷町 | 野洲市

Prefectures of Japan

Aichi | Akita | Aomori | Chiba | Ehime | Fukui | Fukuoka | Fukushima | Gifu | Gunma | Hiroshima | Hokkaido | Hyogo | Ibaraki | Ishikawa | Iwate | Kagawa | Kagoshima | Kanagawa | Kochi | Kumamoto | Kyoto | Mie | Miyagi | Miyazaki | Nagano | Nagasaki | Nara | Niigata | Oita | Okayama | Okinawa | Osaka | Saga | Saitama | Shiga | Shimane | Shizuoka | Tochigi | Tokushima | Tokyo | Tottori | Toyama | Wakayama | Yamagata | Yamaguchi | Yamanashi