The Use of Lake Biwa and People’s Lifestyle

Abstract

The shores around Lake Biwa have been inhabited since ancient times. People have historically utilized not only the lake’s natural material and biotic resources, such as the fishes, reeds, waterweeds, bottom mud, and lake water itself, but also the cultural aspects afforded by the topography, including the lake’s magnificent panoramas and the ecosystem’s various organisms, both in the context of people’s daily lives as well as for commercial purposes. With regard to the use of natural material resources, people in times past naively kept exploitation levels below a threshold that did not drain nor exceed the natural regenerative capacity of the lake environment. However, since the end of World War II when Japan entered a period of high economic growth, considerable changes have occurred with respect to the surrounding industrial infrastructure as well as people’s lifestyles, and this has greatly altered the traditional use of the lake’s resources.