Shiga Prefecture Toyosato has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall.

[2] Per Japanese census data,[3] the population of Toyosato has remained relatively steady over the past century, with a noticeable uptick around 1950 due to World War II.

From the Heian period, the area was divided between several shoen landed estates, and a number of settlements arose along the route of the Tōkaidō highway connecting Heian-kyō with the eastern provinces of Japan.

The merchants in these villages formed guilds controlling the transport of Japanese paper, which was mostly made in Mino Province to Kyoto, Ise and Owari.

During the Meiji period the area suffered from repeated droughts, which led to the development of some of Japan's first agricultural cooperatives and investment in groundwater irrigation.