Biwako

Lake Biwa (琵琶湖 Biwa-ko^?, literally "Biwa Lake") is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, located in Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Because of its proximity to the ancient capital, references to Lake Biwa appear frequently in Japanese literature, particularly in poetry and in historical accounts of battles.

The term of Biwako was established in the Edo Period. There are some theories about the origin of Biwako, but it was generally believed that a stringed instrument Biwa is related to Biwako. Kōsō, a learned monk of Enryaku-ji in the 14th century, referred to a clue of Biwako in his writing; "The lake is the Pure land of Benzaiten. Because she lives in the Chikubu Island and the shape of the lake is similar to Biwa, her favorite instrument."^[1]
The lake is also called Nio no Umi (鳰の海^?, "Lake of Little Grebe") in literature.