Ōtsu
Ōtsu is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
Ōtsu is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 October 2021, the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is 464.51 square kilometres (179.35 sq mi).
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Enryakuji Temple
The head temple of Tendai Buddhism and a World Heritage Site located atop Mount Hiei.
- 02Gichu-ji Temple
The burial place of famed haiku poet Matsuo Bashō, of Narrow Road to the Deep North fame.
- 03Ishiyama-dera
- 04Miidera Temple
- 05Hiyoshi Taisha
- 06Takebe Shrine
This was once the head shrine of Omi Province.
From Wikivoyage: Ōtsu, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Michigan Cruise (ミシガンクルーズ). A cruise of Lake Biwa with on-board entertainment and food. They offer 60 minute, 80 minute and night cruises, each with their own prices. Boat leaves from Otsu Port. The ship's name comes from the American state of Michigan because Otsu has a sister-city relationship with the state's capital, Lansing.
From Wikivoyage: Ōtsu, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
- 01Kanekichi
- 02Matsukiya
From Wikivoyage: Ōtsu, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Ōtsu
- Airports
- Osaka Itami (ITM), 46 km · Kobe (UKB), 71 km · Kansai (KIX), 86 km
- Osaka → Ōtsu48 km · quickest by road, 1h 33m · ¥670–920
- Kobe → Ōtsu71 km · quickest by road, 2h 3m · ¥890–1,220
- Tokoname → Ōtsu89 km · quickest by road, 2h 31m · ¥1,440–1,970
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Ōtsu
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Ōtsu. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inFrom Kyoto, the JR Kosei line goes directly to the Hieizan-Sakamoto station which is a 1,200-m walk from the Sakamoto Cable Car or the trailhead to climb Mount Hiei on foot.
- Get inFrom here the Eizan Cable Car makes the trip to the top of Mount Hiei for ¥850/1080 one-way/return (incl.
- Get inThe Hiyoshi Taisha shrine and the cable car to Mt.
- Get aroundFor going between the two, you can use the Sakamoto Cable Car, which costs ¥840/1570 one-way/round-trip and runs daily from 08:00 to 17:00 once every 30 minutes.
- Get aroundAt over 2 km, this is the longest cable car in Japan and takes about 11 minutes for the journey.
From Wikivoyage: Mount Hiei, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-07.
- 01886 km
- 021,273 km
- 031,456 km
- 041,642 km
- 051,806 km
If you know how people move in Ōtsu – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Ōtsu
Ōtsu is 9 km from Kyoto, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.