Kurokabe Square

Nagahama developed as a castle town where Hashiba Hideyoshi became a feudal lord with his own castle for the first time, establishing a foothold for his rise to power. Its present-day city center grew into the heart of the Kohoku region. Even after Nagahama Castle was abandoned following the Siege of Osaka, the city continued to prosper as a post town on the Hokkoku Kaido, a key hub for water transportation on Lake Biwa, and a temple town serving Daitsu-ji Temple, also known as Nagahama Gobo.

From the mid-1960s through the late 1980s, the city center experienced a period of decline, but it was revitalized through a community development initiative centered on glass. Kurokabe Co., Ltd., a public-private company established to revitalize the area and preserve its traditional architecture, took the lead in restoring the historic buildings in the city center. The surrounding Kurokabe Square area, now home to glass shops, hands-on workshops, restaurants, and other businesses, has become a popular destination attracting as many as 2 million visitors annually.

At the heart of the area is Kurokabe Glass Shop, also known as Kurokabe Building No. 1. The stately Western-style building with black plaster walls was constructed in 1900 as the Nagahama Branch of the 130th National Bank. In 1989, it was transformed into a glass shop displaying and selling approximately 30,000 glass products from Japan and abroad. Today, the area has grown to include 22 directly operated and participating stores, along with a wide range of shops and facilities offering hands-on craft experiences beyond glassmaking.