  is a city located in shiga prefecture, japan. it is on the eastern shore of the lake biwa. the city was incorporated on february 11, 1937. as of october 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 111,777 and a population density of 567.97 persons per kmÂ². the total area is 196.84 kmÂ². the key industries of hikone are the manufacturing of butsudan, textiles, and valves. bridgestone has a tire manufacturing plant here. fujitec, ohmi railway, and heiwadÅ (the largest supermarket chain in shiga) are headquartered in hikone. in 2003, meetings were held to discuss the merger of hikone with the towns of toyosato, kÅra, and taga (all from inukami district). however, a survey conducted by the city in february 2004, revealed that most of the citizens opposed the merger, leading the city government to shelve the proposal for the time being. file:japanshigahikonecastle.jpg|hikone castle file:shigauniv hikone assemblyhall01.jpg|shiga university file:nakasendo in tsuzuracho hikone 20110809.jpg|nakasendo in hikone ==history== hikone's most famous historical site is hikone castle. its construction was begun in 1603 by ii naokatsu, son of the former lord, ii naomasa, but was not completed until 1622. naokatsu's lands had been taken from him in the interval by the tokugawa shogunate, and when his brother naotake assumed control of Åmi province, he was able to complete the castle by collecting stones from the former sawayama castle. when the meiji period began in 1868, many castles were scheduled to be dismantled and only a request from the emperor meiji himself, touring the area, kept hikone castle intact. today it remains one of the oldest original-construction castles in japan. in 1999, a small area south of the castle, called the yume kyÅbashi castle road, was built in the old style 
Cities_in_Shiga_Prefecture