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La Collina Omihachiman

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

La CollinaFujimori TerunobubaumkuchenTaneyaOmihachiman

Illustration of La Collina Omihachiman, Shiga — Illustration — not a photograph

Regional food in Shiga says as much about the place as its temples or its scenery, and La Collina Omihachiman is where that shows.

Fujimori Terunobu designed the main building of this confectioner's flagship as a hill with grass growing out of its roof, held up by charred timber posts, with charcoal set into the ceiling in a pattern that took a hundred volunteers to place. Around it are rice paddies the company farms, a castle-shaped baumkuchen factory with a viewing gallery, a bakery, and a landscape that reads as a village invented by somebody who does not believe in straight lines.

It belongs to Taneya, a wagashi maker founded in Omihachiman in 1872, and the argument the place makes is that a shop can be a piece of landscape. Entry is free and so is the factory viewing. It has become the most visited single site in Shiga, which is worth knowing before arriving on a Sunday.

Plan your visit

Hours

9:00 AM – 6:00 PM | Cafe last order 5:00 PM | Food court 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (last order 4:45 PM) | Bread shop from 11:00 AM until sold out

Closed: Confirm before travelling

Time to allow

1.5–2 hours

What it costs

Free (grounds and baumkuchen factory viewing gallery) | Confectionery and meals priced separately

Best season

Year-round | Late May–June for the flooded paddies and green roof

Getting there

Directions

Kitanosho-cho 615-1, Omihachiman City. By bus from Omihachiman Station on the JR Biwako Line. Entry is free and the baumkuchen factory viewing gallery needs no ticket or reservation. Free parking, which fills at weekends.

Insider tips

**Free to enter, including the factory.** No ticket and no booking for the baumkuchen production gallery, which is unusual for a factory viewing in Japan. **The roof is a working lawn.** Grass planted on the main building, mown by staff, and it changes completely between seasons. Fujimori's charred-timber and charcoal detailing is worth looking at up close. **Weekends are very busy.** This is the most visited site in the prefecture. A weekday morning is a different place. **The paddies are farmed by the company.** Rice grown on site, and the seasonal state of the fields is part of the design rather than a backdrop. **Omihachiman's canal quarter is nearby.** The merchant town, the Hachimanbori canal and the ropeway are the historical half of the same day.

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