HIKONE

city, Shiga ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa. The city grew around the castle built by the Ii family in 1603. Hikone is now a tourist centre, its visitors attracted by the castle and parts of the old castle town. Industries along the Nagoya-Kobe expressway near Hikone include textile, cement, and pulp factories. Pop. (1985) 94,205.