Hamamatsu

Hamamatsu (浜松市) is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is the largest city in Shizuoka Prefecture. Following the recent merger trends in Japan known as Heisei's big mergers, the city merged with surrounding 11 cities and towns on July 1 2005. It became a city designated by government ordinance on April 1 2007.

History

• Apr 1, 1989 - Shizuoka Prefectural Office at Hamamatsu opened.
• May 1, 1990 - Hamamatsu Arena opened.
• January 1, 1991- Merged the village of Kami in Hamana District.
• April 1, 1991 - The first Hamamatsu International Piano Competition was held.
• May 1, 1994 - Act City Hamamatsu opened.
• October 1, 1995 - Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments opened.
• April 1, 1996 - Designated as a Core City.
• June 1, 1996 - Hamamatsu City Fruit Park opened.
• January 1, 1997 - Started separated collection of garbage in residential areas.
• April 1, 1997 - Designated as an Omnibus Town.
• April 1, 1998 - Act City Musical School opened.
• April 3, 2000 - Shizuoka University of Art and Culture opened.
• July 1, 2001 - Commemorated the city's 90th anniversary.
• August 1, 2002 - Launched the conference on Pan-Hamanako Designated City Simulation.
• April 1, 2003 - Shizuoka New Kawafuji National High School Competition was held.
• June 1, 2003 - Launched Tenryūgawa-Hamanako Region Merger Conference.
• April 8 - October 11, 2004 - Pacific Flora 2004 (Shizuoka International Garden and Horticulture Exhibition) was held at Hamanako Garden Park.
• July 1, 2005 - Merged Hamakita and Tenryū; Inasa, Hosoe, and Mikkabi in Inasa District (resulting in the district's dissolution); Yuto and Maisaka in Hamana District; Sakuma, Misakubo, and Tatsuyama in Iwata District (also dissolved as a result); and Haruno in Shuchi District.
• April 1, 2007 - Became a city designated by government ordinance.

Geography

Hamamatsu consists of a flat plain and the Mikatahara Plateau in the south, and mountainous area in the north. It is roughly bordered by the Lake Hamana in the west, the Tenryū River in the east, and the Pacific Ocean in the south. The climate in southern Hamamatsu is mild with 0 cm average snow precipitation in winters, but it is windy in winter because of the dry monsoon called Enshu no Karakkaze which is unique to the region. The climate in northern Hamamatsu is much more harsh because of föhn winds. In summers, the highest temperature often goes over 35 degrees in Tenryu-ku, while it snows in winters.

Wards

Hamamatsu has 7 wards.

Hamakita-ku Higashi-ku Kita-ku Minami-ku

Naka-ku Nishi-ku Tenryū-ku

Industry

Hamamatsu has been famous as an industrial city, especially for musical instruments and motorcycles. It also had been known for fabric industry, but most companies and factories went out of business in the 90s.

Companies headquartered in Hamamatsu

• Hamamatsu Photonics
• Kawai Musical Instruments Mfg.
• Roland Corporation
• Suzuki Motor Co.
• Yamaha Corporation

Companies founded in Hamamatsu

• Honda Motor Co.

Transportation

Railways

Rail lines cross through downtown Hamamatsu

Hamamatsu is a station on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and Tōkaidō Main Line. As of 2005, this station is served by a small selection of Hikari services and all passing Kodama services. Hamamatsu is approximately halfway along the Tōkaidō line, as the journey time to both Tokyo and Shin-Osaka is approximately one and half hours with Hikari, and two hours with Kodama.

Tōkaidō Main Line stops at the following stations:

• Bentenjima
• Maisaka
• Takatsuka
• Hamamatsu
• Tenryūgawa

Iida Line stops at several stations in Sakuma area.

Enshu Railway Line, also known as Akaden (the red train), is a local line running north from Shin-Hamamatsu station through Nishikajima station.

Tenryū Hamanako Railway Line stops at several stations in Miyakoda area.

Roads

• Expressways
  • Tomei Expressway (Hamamatsu I.C., Hamamatsu Nishi I.C., and Mikkabi I.C.)
  • Second Tomei Expressway (under construction)
  • Sanen Nanshin Highway (under construction)

• Bypasses
  • Hamamatsu Bypass
  • Hamana Bypass

• National Highways
  • Route 1
  • Route 42
  • Route 150
  • Route 152
  • Route 257
  • Route 301
  • Route 362

Bus

Bus is the major public transportation in Hamamatsu. Almost all services are operated by Enshu Railway Co. (Entetsu Bus).

Airport

There is no civilian airports in the city. Chubu Centrair International Airport in Aichi prefecture located about Template:Dist km mile west of the city is the closest airport. Shizuoka Airport is currently under construction and expected to be operational by March 2009. The location is between Makinohara and Shimada, and about Template:Dist km mile east of the city.

Festivals

• Hamamatsu Festival

Hamamatsu Festival, held from May 3 through May 5 each year, is well-known for Takoage Gassen, or the kite fight, and luxuriously decorated palace-like floats. The festival originated about 430 years ago, when the lord of Hamamatsu Castle celebrated the birth of his first son by flying kites. In the Meiji Era, the celebration of the birth of a first son by flying Hatsu Dako, or the first kite, became popular, and this tradition has survived in the form of Hamamatsu Festival. It is extremely exciting to see over 160 large kites flying in the sky to the sound of trumpets. Those who visit Hamamatsu at this time of the year can experience the city at its most exciting time.

During the nights of Hamamatsu Festival, people parade downtown carrying over 70 yatai, or palace-lake floats, that are beautifully decorated while playing Japanese traditional festival music. The festival reaches its peak when groups of people compete by violently marching across town. (Naka-ku, Minami-ku - May)

• Hamakita Manyo Festival

This event takes place in Manyo no Mori Park to commemorate the Manyo Period and introduce its culture. As part of the festival, people reenact the ancient past by wearing traditional clothes from the Manyo period and presenting poetry readings. (Hamakita-ku, Hamamatsu - October)

• Princess Road Festival

This reenactment of a procession made by the princess in her palanquin along with her entourage of over 100 people including maids, samurai and servants makes for a splendid scene beneath the cherry blossoms along the Toda River. In the Edo period, princesses enjoyed traveling this road which came to be known as Himekaido, or the "Princess Road." (Hosoe, Kita-ku - April)

• Enshu Dainenbutsu (Buddhist Chanting Ritual)

When a family commemorates the first Obon holidays after the death of a loved one, they may request that a dainenbutsu (Buddhist chanting ritual) be performed outside their house. This is one of the local performing arts of the Enshu region. The group always forms a procession in front of the house led by a person carrying a lantern and marches to the sound of flutes, Japanese drums and cymbals. (Saigagake Museum, Hamamatsu City - July 15)

• Inasa Puppet Festival

One of the few puppet festivals held in Japan, featuring 60 performances of about 30 plays by puppet masters from all over the country. The shows provide a full day of enjoyment for both children and adults. (Inasa, Kita-ku - November)

• Akiha Fire Festival

Ever since long ago, Mount Akiha was believed to have supernatural powers to prevent fires. Bow and arrow, sword and fire dances are performed at the Akiha Shrine, and at the Akiha Temple a firewalking ceremony is performed where both believers and spectators celebrate the festival. (Haruno, Tenryu-ku - December)

• Shoryu Weeping Ume Blossom Festival

Within Ryusui Garden there is a stream with 7 small waterfalls and about 80 weeping ume trees pruned to give the appearance of dragons riding on clouds to the heavens. There are also 200 young trees planted along the mountainside. (Inasa, Kita-ku - Late February to Late March)

• Hamakita Hiryu Festiva

This festival is held in honor of Ryujin, the god of the Tenryu River, and features a wide variety of events such as the Hamakita takoage (kite flying) event and the Hiryu himatsuri (Flying Dragon fire festival) which celebrates water, sound and flame. (Hamakita-ku - June)

Famous people

• Michio Suzuki (1887 - 1982)

After the establishment of Suzuki Loom Works in Hamamatsu City in 1909, Suzuki kept expanding his business and, in 1929, invented a new type of weaving machine, which was exported overseas. Michio Suzuki filed as many as 120 patents and utility model rights. He started on a protocol of an automobile in 1939 and laid the foundation of Suzuki, the car maker, by releasing the Colleda motorcycle and a light-weight car called the Suzulight.

• Soichiro Honda (1906 - 1991)

The founder of Honda is a pioneer of Hamamatsu as "the city of motorcycles". Born in Tenryu which was located north of Hamamatsu, Honda learned auto-repair skills in Tokyo before opening the Hamamatsu branch of Ahto Shokai. In 1946, he established Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and developed the motorcycle widely known as "Pon-Pon". Honda's extraordinary ideas kept laying new paths for the company, making Honda the world's leading motorcycle/automotive manufacturer.

• Torakusu Yamaha (1851 - 1916)

In 1884, Yamaha first repaired an organ in an elementary school while still working as a repair engineer for medical equipment. He became fascinated by the organ and started developing them himself. After painstaking effort, Yamaha finally built his first reed organ, which was highly praised by experts in the field. In 1888, he established "Yamaha Fukin Seizoujo", which later became Yamaha, the world's leading musical instrument maker. Torakusu Yamaha laid the foundation of the musical instrument industry in the Hamamatsu area.

• Kenjiro Takayanagi (1899 - 1990)

Born in Hamamatsu City. After becoming an assistant professor of engineering at what is now Shizuoka University in 1924, Takayanagi dedicated himself to the development of the television. After repeated mistakes, he successfully completed the first all-electronic TV system in the world. Takayanagi also succeeded in inventing the first domestic TV set, establishing the foundation of modern television. The growth of the optical technological industry in Hamamatsu is largely thanks to Takayanagi and his research.

• Koichi Kawai (1886 - 1955)

Hamamatsu-born Kawai became an apprentice to Torakusu Yamaha at the young age of 11. The piano mechanism which Kawai helped design contributed greatly to the birth of the first piano made in Japan. He invented many mechanisms, such as the stop device for the organ, and was nicknamed "Koichi, the inventor". Kawai Gakki Kenkyujo, which was established in 1927, became Kawai Musical Instruments Mfg. Co., Ltd. in 1929, which has received over 20 patents on inventions like new types of mechanism and soundboard.

Radio stations

• FM Haro! (JOZZ6AB FM, 76.1MHz)
• K-MIX (JOKU FM, 78.4MHz)
• NHK FM (JOPK FM, 82.1MHz)

Colleges and universities

• Hamamatsu Gakuin University
• Hamamatsu University
• Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
• Seirei Christpher College
• Shizuoka University (Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Information)
• Shizuoka University of Art and Culture

Sister cities

Hamamatsu has ratified Music Culture Exchange Treaty with the following cities:

• Warsaw, Poland (since February 1, 1990)
• Sanremo, Italy (since October 1, 1992)
• Rochester, United States (since October 1, 1996)

External links

• City's official website. Portuguese version is also available.
• Template:Wikitravel
• Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments
• Hamamatsu Daisuki Net (I love Hamamatsu)