Shiga with a baby (0–1) 3 spots
A sixth of Shiga is Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. It looks like the sea but has almost no waves, which makes paddling with small children far easier than a beach. On rainy days the Lake Biwa Museum — free for kids through high school — takes over. It suits families who want easy days by the water.
Grass roofs the main shop on a confectioner's grounds of nine shops and cafes.
Nursing room · Changing table · Elevator · checked Aug ’26
A prefectural museum of Lake Biwa, with one of Japan's largest displays of freshwater life.
Stroller OK · Nursing room · Changing table · checked Aug ’26
Opened in 1878, one of Japan's oldest trout farms, with the breeding ponds open to visitors.
Family restroom · checked Aug ’26
Neither admission nor parking costs anything, so a short stop is a fair way to use the place. Grass covers the whole roof of the main shop, and from August through October it is at its greenest to look up at.The nursing room is on the first floor of the Baum Factory, and the restrooms on the grounds have diaper changing sheets. Baby food and meals for allergies or other restrictions may be brought in; other packed lunches and food bought outside may not. The grounds have many steps and the footing turns poor in bad weather, so wear shoes you can walk in. The Baum Factory's viewing corridor has neither elevator nor slope, and the gift shop and the Baum Factory are built with plenty of steps and stairs, though the main shop does have an elevator. Where a stroller will not pass, carrying the baby gets you through. Weekday mornings are the quiet time, and the official crowd calendar shows which days are which.
The aquarium hall is one of the largest freshwater displays in Japan, with over 100 species, including nearly every fish native to Lake Biwa and the rivers of Shiga. The Biwako giant catfish, the master of the lake, is right there in front of you. Elevators and ramps get you around the whole building, and preschool children see the permanent exhibition free.The strollers lent free at the general reception are B type only, the upright sit-up kind, and limited in number, so if your baby cannot sit up yet, bring your own reclining stroller or a carrier. The nursing room is on the first floor, with a bed, a chair and hot water. Baby beds are in every restroom in the building. Disposable diapers are to be taken home with you, so bring a bag for them. Your ticket is valid all day and lets you back in, so you can step outside to feed and return.
Inside the main building, the Fish Learning Hall is a mini aquarium where sturgeon and big trout are seen from the side. A video corner plays films about the farm's work and the fish's lives all day long. It is indoors, so it holds up on a hot day or a wet one.Nowhere on the grounds is off limits to a wheelchair, and there is accessible parking, an accessible toilet and wheelchairs to borrow; a nursing room and a changing table are not mentioned. It is about an hour on foot from JR Samegai Station with no public bus, and no taxis wait at the station, so come by car or reserve a shared taxi with Omi Taxi (0749-52-8200) at least 60 minutes before you set out. Heavy typhoon rain can swell and muddy the streams on site and close the farm for the day.