Omi Merchant Geography as Destiny

“why did so many Omi merchants emerge who left their region and went to other provinces from Omi, Shiga Prefecture? Why was it from Shiga Prefecture, and not urban centers like Kyoto or Osaka? Several sources give three reasons. (1) It was a key transportation route. (2) The region was rich in products. (3) There was an accumulation of commercial activity. From looking at a map, it’s clear it was a key transportation route. Major highways such as the Nakasendo, Hokurikudo, and Tokaido passed and intersected from the east to the southern tip of Lake Biwa. And there was water transport. The water transport on Lake Biwa, which takes up one-sixth of Shiga’s area, had been utilized since medieval times. Both land and water made it a key transportation route.”

“The second reason is the products. They had high-quality hemp cloth. Until cotton became widespread, hemp was the main clothing material for commoners and was especially valued in the warmer west of Japan. Other representative products included rice. Called Goshu rice, it was considered delicious in the Kinai area. There were also mosquito nets made from hemp (Omi mosquito nets), tatami mats, many kinds of salted fish from Obama in Fukui Prefecture… Omi’s products were items that sold well wherever they were taken.”