Kusatsu, Shiga

This article is about the city in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. For the town with this name in Gunma Prefecture, see Kusatsu, Gunma.

Kusatsu 草津市
City
Kusatsu-juku Lake Biwa Museum Yabaseki Peninsula Park Inazuma Rock Festival Kusatsu Station plaza
Flag Emblem
Location of Kusatsu in Shiga Prefecture
Kusatsu Location in Japan
Coordinates: 35°1′N 135°58′E
Country	Japan
Region	Kansai
Prefecture	Shiga
Government
• Mayor	Wataru Hashikawa
Area
• Total	67.82 km2 (26.19 sq mi)
Population  (January 31, 2024)
• Total	139,913
• Density	2,100/km2 (5,300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+09:00 (JST)
City hall address	3-13-30, Kusatsu, Kusatsu-shi, Shiga-ken 525-8588
Website	Official website
Symbols
Flower	Aobana (Commelina communis L. var. hortensis Makino)
Tree	Sweet Osmanthus

Kusatsu City Hall

Kusatsu (草津市, Kusatsu-shi) is a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 January 2024, the city had an estimated population of 139,913 in 63,942 households and a population density of 2100 persons per km². The total area of the city is 67.82 square kilometres (26.19 sq mi). The city is often confused with Kusatsu, Gunma Prefecture, which is a famous hot spring resort.

Geography

Kusatsu is located in southern Shiga Prefecture, on the southeastern shore of Lake Biwa.

Neighboring municipalities

Shiga Prefecture

• Moriyama
• Ōtsu
• Rittō

Climate

Kusatsu has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kusatsu is 14.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1430 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.5 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kusatsu has increased steadily over the past century.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1920	21,990	—
1930	24,190	+10.0%
1940	26,483	+9.5%
1950	32,755	+23.7%
1960	35,022	+6.9%
1970	46,409	+32.5%
1980	77,012	+65.9%
1990	94,767	+23.1%
2000	115,455	+21.8%
2010	130,874	+13.4%
2020	143,913	+10.0%
Source: [1]

History

Historical site of Kusatsu-juku.

Kusatsu is part of ancient Ōmi Province. It has been a transportation hub for east-west travel on the ancient Tōsandō and Tōkaidō highways connecting the capital of Heian-kyō with the provinces of eastern Japan from the end of the Nara period onwards. During the Muromachi period, it developed as a relay point between Kyoto and the Ise Grand Shrines. In 1422, when Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimochi made a pilgrimage to Ise, he built a palace, the "Kusatsu Goshō" in this location. Around 1568, Oda Nobunaga forced Ashikaga Yoshiaki to cede the Kusatsu area, which he viewed as strategically critical to controlling the approaches to Kyoto. Nobunaga made extensive road repairs and reconstructed the Seta Bridge. In the early Edo period, the system of post stations on the Nakasendō and Tōkaidō was formalized by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1602. Kusatsu-juku developed at the junction of these two highways as a post town from around this time.

The town of Kusatsu was established within Kurita District, Shiga with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. On October 15, 1954, Kusatsu merged with the neighboring villages of Shizu, Oikami, Yamada, Kasanei and Tokiwa to form the city of Kusatsu.

Government

Kusatsu has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 24 members. Kusatsu contributes four members to the Shiga Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Shiga 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

Kusatsu is a regional commercial center and an important traffic junction of southern Shiga; Biwako Line, Kusatsu Line, Meishin Expressway, Shin-Meishin Expressway, Japan National Route 1 and Japan National Route 8. The city is 30 minutes from Kyoto and 51 minutes from Osaka, and is classified by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism as part of the greater Kyoto Metropolitan area, thus has increasingly become a commuter town.

Education

Kusatsu has 14 public elementary schools and six public middle schools operated by the city government and four public high schools operated by the Shiga Prefectural Department of Education. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped. There are also one private middle school and two private high schools. Ritsumeikan University of Kyoto has a subcampus in Kusatsu.

Transportation

Railway

JR West – Biwako Line

• Minami-Kusatsu - Kusatsu

JR West – Biwako Line

• Kusatsu

Highway

• Meishin Expressway
• Shin-Meishin Expressway
• National Route 1
• National Route 8

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Japan

Sister cities

Kusatsu is twinned with:

• Pontiac, United States, since 1978
• Kan'onji, Japan

Friendship cities

• Xuhui District, Shanghai, China

Local attractions

Huge lotus pond bloom in summer at Karasuma Peninsula in Kusatsu.

• Ashiura Kannon-ji, National Historic Site
• Site of Kusatsu-juku, National Historic Site
• Lake Biwa Museum
• Mizunomori Water Botanical Garden

External links

• Kusatsu City official website (in Japanese)
• Kusatsu (Shiga) travel guide from Wikivoyage