Shiga Prefecture and the cities of Otsu, Hikone, Omi-Hachiman, Takashima, Higashi Omi and Maibara submitted an application as "Lake Biwa and its Surrounding Waters: the Water Heritage of Prayers and Lifestyle," and this was approved in 2015 by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as "Japan Heritage." (In 2016 Nagahama City was additionally certified, and in 2018 so were Kusatsu City, Moriyama City, and Yasu City)

Those cultural assets, both tangible and intangible, that are required for the telling of this story are then maintained and used by the region as a whole, with the intent of strategically imparting them both domestically and overseas in order to aid with invigoration of the region.