Shiga: Lake Biwa, Hikone Castle and Omi Hospitality
Shiga surrounds Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake, and its shores hold Hikone Castle with its original keep and the World Heritage temple complex of Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei. The prefecture is an easy add-on to a Kyoto itinerary, and touring the lake is a journey in itself.
In Shiga, Halal Gourmet Japan features a hotel listed as certified halal that says it prepares halal-friendly Japanese meals with advance reservation, and a restaurant that serves halal chicken sukiyaki and says it sets up a space for prayer and wudu for group bookings.
For Indian food, the listings include a Muslim-owned restaurant listed as certified halal — whose owner-chef says he travels to India to select ingredients and spices himself and that all meat served is halal — as well as Indian and Nepali restaurants in Hikone and Nagahama that say they use halal meat.
For prayer, the listings include a prayer space with qibla direction and wudu facilities at the Hakodateyama Ski Resort in Takashima, easy to build into sightseeing on the western side of the lake or a winter stay.
Stroll the castle town of Hikone, cycle along the lakeshore, and use the Halal Gourmet Japan map to line up meals and prayer along your route through Omi.
Content reviewed: August 20, 2026
