Moriyama City

Not one pit dwelling has been found.

Shimonogo Site, moated village

Photo by Saigen Jiro (CC0)

01 ／ Fire festival

The severed dragon's head is said to haveflown to Sumiyoshi, its body to Katsube.

According to legend, the grave illness that afflicted Emperor Tsuchimikado in the early Kamakura period was caused by a giant serpent (a dragon) in Omi, and he recovered when it was slain; this is said to be the festival's origin. Sumiyoshi Shrine, where the dragon's head is said to have landed, and Katsube Shrine, its body, set huge dragon-shaped torches alight on the second Saturday of every January.

Prefecturally selected intangible folk cultural property
Second Saturday of January each year
Held on 10 January 2026

02 ／ Omi Myoren lotus

A lotus that stopped blooming in the Meiji eracame home to its pond in 1960.

The Omi Myoren lotus in Myoren Pond in Nakamachi has been tended for 600 years, since the Muromachi period, by the Tanaka family and local people. One stem carries 2 to 12 flowers, and it is said that the priest Jikaku Daishi brought it from China. It stopped blooming in the Meiji era, but in 1960 Dr. Oga had plants that had been growing elsewhere returned to the pond.

About 600 years of care since the Muromachi period
Returned home in 1960
Prefectural Natural Monument, 1965

03 ／ Ise Site

Inside a square fence,three large buildings stood in an L.

In the eastern half of this late Yayoi site, 12 large post-set buildings have been found in all. In a fenced compound, three large buildings and a small storehouse stood in an L, and 30 m to the east a 3-by-3-bay watchtower was found. The site also reaches into Ritto City, and in 2012 it became a National Historic Site.

12 large buildings
Watchtower, 3 by 3 bays
National Historic Site, 2012

Living here

25 minutes to Kyoto, 55 to Osaka, on the Special Rapid.

about 80,000 people
60 min to a city centre

Moriyama Station is the only railway station in the city, and the Special Rapid on the Biwako Line reaches Kyoto in 25 minutes and Osaka in 55. From the station's west exit, City Hall is about a 15-minute walk.

People living here: 83,236people
Area: 55.73km²
Households: 31,796households
Rent (average for rentals): 55,634yen
Healthcare: 3 hospitals ／ 68 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —14 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Moriyama City in Japan35.059°N 135.994°E

to KyotoJR Special Rapid25min
to OsakaJR Special Rapid55min

Travel times follow 滋賀県の移住ポータルサイト「滋賀ぐらし」の守山市のページ（更新日 2026年9月7日・問い合わせ先は守山市企画政策課）の『JRで京都駅へ25分、大阪駅へ55分という利便性』と、JR西日本『JRおでかけネット』区間時刻表（ページの日付 2026年10月7日）の2本：琵琶湖線・JR京都線・JR神戸線（米原～大阪～姫路）下り line-timetable/2234 と上り line-timetable/2235 (checked 2026-10-07). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 3 municipalities.

Territory of Moriyama City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

10.1km

野洲市, 栗東市, 草津市

Moriyama City isthis kind of town.

01The National Historic Site of Shimonogo is a moated village of the middle Yayoi period; the city's board of education says it had at least three rings of moats and that not one pit dwelling has been found
02The fire festival of Katsube and Sumiyoshi shrines, a prefecturally selected folk cultural property, is held on the second Saturday of every January, when the two shrines, said to have received a dragon's body and head, set huge torches alight
03The city flower, the Omi Myoren lotus, is a prefectural natural monument; the city also keeps the late Yayoi Ise Site, the Imajuku mile-marker mound and Moriyama post town on the Nakasendo, and Tsubue Shrine, where locals have treated the pond snail as a divine messenger

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Moriyama City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗