Maibara () is a city in Shiga, Japan.
Most of Maibara's visitors come in by train and never see more than the station. A major junction, Maibara is a Shinkansen station between Kyoto and Nagoya. Shinkansen travelers to Maibara typically use it as the gateway to Hikone, one station south. It is also the eastern terminus of some kaisoku and shinkaisoku (translated as rapid and new rapid) commuter trains from Kansai and the western terminus for all trains from Ogaki and some from Toyohashi. Some of the trains from Kansai go on further to Nagahama, Omi-Shiotsu, and Tsuruga. Be aware that some eastbound rapid and special rapid services terminate at Yasu, which is short of Maibara when coming from the west. The northern cities of Kanazawa and Fukui are connected to Maibara via the Limited Express Shirasagi (en route to Nagoya) and the Thunderbird (en route to Osaka).
2nd-order administrative division
Primary administrative division