Since the kanji for 'bi' and 'wa' are not in common use and have not been designated as kanji for daily use, Lake Biwa (or Biwako) is often written in Shiga Prefecture either completely in hiragana (びわこ) or with the first two characters written in hiragana and the last one in kanji (びわ湖).
「琵」「琶」が当用漢字・常用漢字外であることから、滋賀県内では平仮名書きにした「びわこ」「びわ湖」という表記も数多く見られる。