Latest viral game lets you play ring toss with a whole Japanese prefecture

A short, free-to-play indie game in which you must throw Japan’s Shiga prefecture onto a stick has gone viral in Japan, even getting mentioned on the TV news. Shiga Prefecture Ring Toss was made in Unity by two Japanese solo devs, Hagi24 and Tonarito, but where on earth did this bizarre idea come from? 

Located next door to Kyoto Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture is famous for Japan’s largest freshwater lake, Lake Biwa. The game uses the prefecture as a ring, with the large lake serving as the hole. On a meta level, you toss Shiga prefecture towards a stick standing in the middle of a body of water, which seems to be Lake Biwa… or possibly the sea. It is quite hard to line up your shot and work out the correct throw distance to get it onto the pole. Many commenters on X talk about how tricky yet addictive it is.  

The unusual concept went viral during the Golden Week holiday period in Japan, being played over 50,000 times between April 29 and May 2. It even ended up featuring on Asahi Broadcasting Corporation’s Okaeri News segment, as shared by one of the developers in the tweet below. The dramatic ending you get if you manage to successfully throw Shiga onto the stick has also been amusing users on X. The game climaxes with a brief zoom out to a satellite photo of Shiga overlayed with Fin (The End) as if it were the ending card of a movie or anime episode- not a short game. 

Shiga Prefecture’s PR office also responded to the game, expressing joy that it didn’t just show the famous Lake Biwa, but the whole prefecture. They also added that Lake Biwa takes up one sixth of Shiga’s total area. This explains why it makes a sizeable hole for a virtual game of quoits, I guess.  

Ironically, according to a report on ABC News, neither of the game’s creators have visited Shiga Prefecture yet. Hagi42 commented that the game was the result of a simple idea: “It would be fun if you could ring-toss Shiga Prefecture.” While you play, you are treated to three relaxing tunes that the creators composed based on their image of Lake Biwa. 

One of the game’s developers is the self-described “Amateur Multifaceted Creator” Hagi42. The indie developer has made numerous quirky free games in Unity, which they have posted on their website. Although their games are in Japanese, some of them can easily be played without any knowledge of the language. Titles include Check in Chicken, a game that tests your English listening skills as you try to work out if people want to “check in” to a hotel or are referring to “chickens”. There is also a game where you must identify if an image is AI generated or not, and Penguin Power Drive, in which you must maneuver a penguin past obstacles as a highway zooms towards you. 

Tonarito also makes short games in Unity often featuring manga-style illustrations- these include Just Pour Milk, where you must help a girl gradually pour milk into a pot while avoiding moving wooden beams (yes, it is also a little bizarre) and Raid of Popcorn, where you must dramatically pop kernels in a pan without taking damage.  

If you want to kill some time and find out why Shiga Prefecture Ring Toss has got some Japanese players hooked, it is playable for free via Unityroom.