Linked by Hunan’s Dongting Lake and Shiga’s Lake Biwa, Hunan Province and Shiga Prefecture established a friendship relationship on March 25, 1983, marking Hunan's first provincial-level international friendship city.

Shiga Prefecture, known as Ōmi Province in ancient times, is part of the Osaka Metropolitan Area, one of Japan's three major metropolitan regions. Located in the central part of the Japanese archipelago, the prefecture serves as a corridor connecting eastern and western Japan and a passage linking the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan. Shiga is home to Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. With a well-developed industrial sector, in addition to traditional industries such as machinery manufacturing, textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and commodity processing, the prefecture is committed to developing cutting-edge technology industries including electronics and bioengineering, making it one of Japan's leading industrial prefectures.

Map of Shiga Prefecture

Over the more than 40 years since the establishment of the friendship city relationship, the two sides have carried out practical cooperation in multiple fields including the economy, environmental protection, education, and people-to-people exchanges. At Hunan’s invitation, Shiga has participated in a number of livelihood projects in such areas as afforestation, grassroots education, and healthcare. Since 2013, the two sides have focused on the environmental protection of Dongting Lake and the Xiangjiang River, and have implemented five types of sci-tech projects in collaboration with various departments and research and educational institutions.

In 2019, the Hunan Office of the Lake Biwa Travel Promotion Association (Japan), a public-benefit incorporated association, was inaugurated in Changsha. Leveraging this platform, Hunan and Shiga have jointly rolled out a series of activities including health and elderly care, and nursing personnel exchanges.

In July 2019, Shiga Prefecture unveiled the Hunan Office of the Lake Biwa Travel Promotion Association in Changsha. The photo shows the unveiling ceremony.

Chinese source: Foreign Affairs Office of the Hunan Provincial People's Government