Most memorable on my first cycling trip to Lake Biwa were these thick reeds along parts of the shore (here, near Omi-Hachiman). You can still cruise though them on traditional old boats like this one - and you can even have lunch on the lake like the idle rich did in days of yore.

Lake Biwa is another place that you can go to again and again and still find something new. The lake gets its name not from the biwa fruit but from its shape, which resembles the oddly oval Japanese biwa lute. Its ancient name is Omi, which accounts for the many towns around the shore that begin with this name.