868 bytes added
, 16:43, 28 August 2017
*''Japanese'': 琵琶湖 ''(biwa ko)''
Lake Biwa, located within [[Shiga prefecture]], is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, covering some 670 square kilometers in area.<ref>Lee Jeong Mi, "Cultural Expressions of Tokugawa Japan and Choson Korea: An Analysis of the Korean Embassies in the Eighteenth Century," PhD dissertation, University of Toronto (2008),158.</ref> Named after the supposed resemblance of its shape to that of a ''[[biwa]]'' (a lute-like musical instrument), the lake is the subject of numerous notable literary and artistic references throughout Japanese history.
Lake Biwa was often compared to [[Lake Dongting]] in China, in poetry and literature, and serves as the center of the thematic set of "Eight Views of [[Omi province|Ômi]]."<ref>An adaptation or borrowing of the classical Chinese theme, "[[Eight Views of Xiao and Xiang]]."</ref>