Ohmi has been a town where major roads inter-connected from the ancient days.

During the Sengoku period (The Age of Provincial Wars), it had been said that “those who reign over Ohmi shall rule the nation”.  Ohmi is a place many war lords had passed through, including Nobunaga Oda, Ieyasu Tokugawa, etc., all dreaming to reign over Japan.

Their hopes and sentiments are still lingering around historic battlefields, castles, and the castle town of Nagahama .

Nagahama is an original area of Ohmi located in north east of the fresh water sea that is Lake Biwako.

Nagahama is the first town Hideyoshi, who unified Japan, ruled as a daimyo (feudal lord) with his own castle.  The old name of the town, Imahama, was changed to Nagahama by Hideyoshi.

The basis of town planning by Hideyoshi can still be observed in Nagahama’s grid form of cityscape.

Hideyoshi allowed the merchant class to govern the commercial area by themselves which fostered self-initiative in the governing power of people.  The power of these merchants became the source of much of the development of Nagahama.

The self-governing spirit is still active in minds of Nagahama people and is the source of its power.

Hokkoku kaido which goes through the town of Nagahama from south to north was an important highway, following the 5 major highways originating in Nihonbashi in old Edo, (now Tokyo).  It prospered with the increasing traffic of warriors and travelers and the transportation of commodities.  The center of the city has been where two major highways meet since the days of Edo: an intersection of the Tanigumi kaido, starting from Otemon (gate) of Nagahama Jyo (castle) to Kegon ji (temple) of Tanigumisan (Mount Tanigumi) in Gifu.  In 1900, the Nagahama Branch of Dai Hyaku Sanjyu Bank was constructed nearby this intersection.
The building was a mixture of western and oriental appearance with a western warehouse style made of clay and its walls are of black plaster.  From its appearance, the people of Nagahama admired the building, giving it the nickname “Black Plaster Bank”, but it faced a crisis when plans were made to pull it down at the end of Showa era, around the mid 1980’s.  Knowing this plan, momentum toward protecting this building, as a historical and cultural heritage for the future, increased among the people.  Based on this, a public-private joint enterprise called “Black Plaster” was established on 1988.  This was the beginning of urban planning aimed at keeping the old cityscape reminding us of the Edo era in new development.

The restoration of the “Black Plaster Bank” to its original style started from 1988 and was it was later revived as an edifice of glass ware, the “Kurokabe Glass Kan (Hall of Glass Ware)”.  Surrounding the building, a square of glass with a nostalgic atmosphere, “Kurokabe Square” was formed with glass ateliers, a gallery exhibiting stained glass and other glass art works from the all over the world, other glass related facilities and miscellaneous shops like local food restaurants, souvenir shops, pottery ateliers, etc.
In addition, one should not miss facilities where the Nagahama atmosphere can be enjoyed along Hokkoku Kaido.  They are: Narita Bijyutsukan (Narita museum) where works of Rene Lalique, the outstanding French glass designer of Art Deco period can be enjoyed, Kyodo Shiryou Kan (museum of local art crafts) introducing unique culture fostered in the northern part of Lake Biwa with Hokkoku Kaido and water ways, through exhibiting antique art works, including a superb collection of comb and Japanese hair pins, etc.
Nagahama, which started as a castle town and prospered as a post station on the Hokkoku Kaido, is continuing to build up its unique history by inheriting traditional culture and combining it together with glass culture.