A local guide to Shiga, written from Kyoto.
DISCOVER SHIGA is a small, three-person travel media. We live in the Kyoto and Shiga area, and we publish in English about the side of Shiga that doesn't make the guidebooks.
Why we started this
If you've been to Kyoto more than once, you've probably noticed two things: the famous spots are increasingly crowded, and the "second-day suggestions" from guidebooks repeat the same handful of places — Nara, Arashiyama, Fushimi Inari.
Shiga is 9 minutes from Kyoto Station. It has one of Japan's five surviving original castles, the country's largest lake, an Edo-period canal town, a torii gate floating in the water, and a 1,200-year-old UNESCO World Heritage temple. And almost nobody outside Japan writes about it in English.
We started DISCOVER SHIGA because we wanted English-speaking travelers to have the same depth of information that we ourselves use when friends visit from abroad.
The people behind this
Ueda Hiroto
Born and raised in Shiga, with over 20 years of residence here. Ueda started his career at a major airline in the tourism industry, and has since worked across tourism, media, and new business development — running media that share Japan's appeal with the world and leading new business launches inside large Japanese corporations.
He has also lived in the Philippines and Singapore, giving him a global perspective grounded in Asia. His ties to Korea run especially deep: more than four visits since his university years, participation in Japan–Korea cultural exchange programs, and a direct dialogue with the Mayor of Seoul.
DISCOVER SHIGA is the project he founded — driven by a clear conviction: "I want to deliver the appeal of Shiga, where I was born and raised, directly to the world — and especially to the people of Asia I've spent so much of my life connected to."
Daiki U.
Filmmaker. Shoots the 4K drone footage of Lake Biwa, Hikone Castle, and the Metasequoia road that appears across our site. SkyView Films →
Y.T.
Writes and translates between English, Japanese, and Korean. Lives in the Kyoto–Shiga area and contributes to all language editions.
Spent several years living in Canada and has also worked inside a global enterprise — bringing an outside-Japan lens to how we write for international travelers.
How we write
About our language editions
The English edition at discover-shiga.com/en/ is our primary version and where we publish new content.
A Korean edition at discover-shiga.com/ is maintained for legacy traffic but is no longer the focus of new investment (we re-prioritized to English in June 2026).
A minimal Japanese edition at discover-shiga.com/?lang=ja exists for transparency and legal compliance pages.
Contact
For partnership inquiries (tourism boards, municipalities, hotels, attractions reaching English-speaking visitors), please use our contact form or email us directly.
Email: editor@discover-shiga.com
Operating entity
DISCOVER SHIGA is operated by ALON CORPORATION (株式会社アロン), a Japanese corporation headquartered in Minamisemba, Chuo-ku, Osaka. SkyView Films is our creative and video production partner — based in Shiga, they produce the 4K drone footage and visual content used across our site. Visit skyviewfilms.jp for their broader work.
For the formal operator disclosure required under Japanese law (特定商取引法に基づく表記), see our Legal Notice.