Otsu Museum of History 大津市歴史博物館

Official explanation

The Otsu Museum of History is an ideal place to learn about the city of Otsu, which has been a hub for transport and trade on Lake Biwa for centuries. The two-story museum is located in Otsu’s leafy central neighborhood beside Miidera Temple. The permanent exhibitions feature a comprehensive collection of local artifacts dating all the way back to the Jomon period (10,000 BCE–300 BCE).

The area’s natural beauty has inspired painters and poets alike. Otsu has been a popular subject for art, especially during the period when it was the final stop on the road to Kyoto from Edo (now Tokyo). The Otsu Museum of History is home to one of the city’s largest selections of otsu-e, a local style of folk paintings that developed in Otsu during the Edo period (1603–1867).

Read the full explanation

Renowned artists including Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) painted their own versions of the Eight Views of Omi, a set of traditional scenic images of beautiful places around Otsu. A range of woodblock prints depicting the Eight Views is on display, allowing visitors to see these historical images at the museum before experiencing the scenes for themselves.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.