Ōmi Province

For other meanings of Omi, see Omi (disambiguation).

Map of Japanese provinces with province highlighted

Map of Japanese provinces with province highlighted

This ukiyo-e by Hiroshige illustrates the sailboats at Yahashi, one of the Eight Views of Ōmi.

Ōmi (近江国, Ōmi no kuni) is an old province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. It is nicknamed as Gōshū (江州)

The ancient capital was near Ōtsu, which was also a major castle town.

Hōjō Tokimasa (北條　時政, 1138-1215), the first shikken of the Kamakura shogunate, was made daimyo of Ōmi Province in the 10th month of Shōji 2 (1200).

During the Edo period, it was host to five of the Tōkaidō's stations. During the Sengoku period, the northern part of the province was the fief of Ishida Mitsunari, Tokugawa Ieyasu's opponent at the Battle of Sekigahara, although he spent most of his time in Osaka Castle administering the fief of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's young son. After Ishida's defeat, Tokugawa granted the fief to his allies, the Ii clan, who built the castle and town of Hikone from the ruins of Sawayama.

The southern part of the province around the town of Kōka (Koga) was the home of the famous Koga Ninja, one of the two main founding schools of ninjutsu.