By the time footsore travelers on the old Tokaido Highway made it to Otsu, the town must have been no unwelcome sight. Many of them would just have trudged some 500 km from Edo (present-day Tokyo), and Otsu was the last of the 53 official way-stations strung out along the great thoroughfare. Just 10 km or so beyond the final hill on the road lay the journey's end of Kyoto.

Throughout most of its history, Otsu has tended to live in the shadow of its famous neighbor to the west. Indeed, for many modern residents, Otsu is still little more than a bedtown for Kyoto, just 10 minutes away by train. But the present-day capital of Shiga Prefecture was once capital of the whole country -- long before upstart Kyoto started hogging the scene. Otsu's spell in the spotlight was, however, brief -- just five years until 672. After that, it settled into its role as a port on Lake Biwa and Kyoto's gateway to and from eastern Japan.

For modern tourists, too, it is grandiose Kyoto that tends to haul in the hordes, but there is more than enough in quiet Otsu to warrant serious attention.