is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

located in western

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. the city had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

of . The total area of the site was .

Overview

Hamamatsu is a member of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

’s

Alliance for Healthy Cities The Alliance for Healthy Cities (AFHC) is a cooperative international alliance aimed at protecting and enhancing the health and health care of city dwellers. It is composed of groups of cities, urban districts and other organizations from countrie ...

(AFHC).

Cityscapes

File:Hamamatsu Castle, enkei-3.jpg,

Hamamatsu Castle is a replica ''hirayama''-style Japanese castle. It was the seat of various ''fudai daimyō'' who ruled over Hamamatsu Domain, Tōtōmi Province, in what is now central Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan under the Edo period Tokugawa s ...

（2021） File:Views from Hamamatsu Castle20211002.jpg, City views from

（2021） File:Hamamatsu view - panoramio.jpg, CBD of Hamamatsu File:Hamamatsu from Mount Tonmaku.jpg, Part of Hamamatsu Skyline File:Skyline of Hamamatsu01.jpg, Skyline of Hamamatsu File:Arco Mall Yurakugai in Hamamatsu City（2）.jpg, Yūrakugai File:Night view of Hamamatsu city.jpg, Night view of Hamamatsu

Geography

Tenryū River, Tenryū Ward Hamamatsu 2012

Hamamatsu is southwest of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

.Fukue, Natsuko.
Nonprofit brings together foreign, Japanese residents in Hamamatsu

Archive
. ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...

''. March 13, 2010. Retrieved on October 12, 2015. Hamamatsu consists of a flat plain and the Mikatahara Plateau in the south, and a mountainous area in the north. It is roughly bordered by

Lake Hamana is a brackish lagoon in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Formerly a true lake, it is now connected to the Pacific Ocean by a channel. As an internal body of water, it is considered Japan's tenth-largest lake (by area). It spans the boundaries of the ...

to the west, the

Tenryū River The is a river in central Honshū, Japan. With a length of , it is Japan's ninth longest river. Its source is Lake Suwa in the Kiso Mountains near Okaya in Nagano Prefecture. It then flows through Aichi Prefecture and western Shizuoka Prefect ...

to the east, and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

to the south.

Climate

The climate in southern Hamamatsu has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

with cool to mild winters with little snowfall; however, it is windy in winter because of the dry monsoon called ''Enshū no Karakaze'', which is unique to the region. The climate in northern Hamamatsu is much harsher because of

foehn wind A Foehn or Föhn (, , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm, downslope wind that occurs in the lee (downwind side) of a mountain range. It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped most of ...

s. Summer is hot with the highest temperature often exceeds 35 degrees in the Tenryu-ku area, while it snows in winter.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Hamamatsu has been increasing over the past 70 years.

Foreign population

Hamamatsu has a significant non-Japanese population. The population of Nikkei foreigners, especially Brazilians increased after a 1990 change in Japanese immigration law allowed them to work in Japan. At one point, Hamamatsu had the largest Brazilian Nikkei population of any Japanese city,Sugino, Toshiko (

National Defense Academy of Japan National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

).
Linguistic Challenges and Possibilities of Immigrants In Case of Nikkei Brazilians in Japan
(Country Note on Topics for Breakout Session 4)
Archive
. Centre for Education Research and Innovation (CERI),

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...

br>See list of reports
p. 1/8. Retrieved on October 12, 2015. Many foreigners work in the manufacturing sector, taking temporary jobs in

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

Suzuki is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal co ...

, and Yamaha plants. the number of non-Japanese in Hamamatsu was 33,332,Aparecida, Tsutsumi Angela (Burajiru Fureai Kai).
The Contradiction Between "Being and Seeming" Reinforces Low Academic Performance

Archive
. ''US-China Education Review'' B 2 (2012) p. 217-223. CITED: p. 217. and by 2010 the number exceeded 30,000. The city has a lot of Portuguese signage. It includes a Brazilian school, and many businesses catering to Brazilians display Brazilian flags. However, Natsuko Fukue of ''

'' wrote in 2010 that many foreign children have difficulty integrating to society in Hamamatsu because "Japanese and foreign communities live largely separate from one another." The foreign population dropped significantly in the aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2008, with the Hamamatsu city government offering aid for some foreign nationals to return to their home countries. The foreign population was estimated as 25,084 as of August 1, 2019, per official city statistics,

Neighboring municipalities

;

* Iwata * Kosai * Shimada *

Mori Mori is a Japanese and Italian surname, and also a Persian pet name for Morteza. It is also the name of two clans in Japan, and one clan in India. Italian surname * Barbara Mori, Uruguayan-Mexican actress *Camilo Mori, Chilean painter * Cesa ...

* Kawanehon ;

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

Toyohashi is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 377,453 in 160,516 households and a population density of 1,400 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . By area, Toyohashi was Aichi Prefecture's second-lar ...

Shinshiro is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 44,581 in 17,691 households, and a population density of 89.3 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Shinshiro is located in east-cent ...

* Tōei * Toyone ;

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

* Iida * Tenryū

History

Prehistoric Ages

The area now comprising Hamamatsu has been settled since prehistoric times, with numerous remains from the

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

and

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

having been discovered within the present city limits, including the Shijimizuka site shell mound and the Akamonue Kofun ancient tomb. File:Shijimizuka Site, tatemono.jpg, Shijimizuka site File:Komyosan Kofun, kouenbu-1.jpg, Kōmyōsan Kofun

Ancient Ages

In the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the c ...

, it became the capital of

Tōtōmi Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The or ...

Middle Ages

During the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

was the home of future ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamaku ...

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

. File:高根城（浜松市）.jpg, Takane Castle File:井伊谷宮 - panoramio (2).jpg, Iinoya-gū File:Hamamatsu Castle Park 浜松城公園3 - panoramio.jpg,

File:Hamamatsu Castle, enkei-2.jpg,

File:Battle of Mikatagahara.jpg,

Battle of Mikatagahara The was a battle of the Sengoku period of Japan fought between Takeda Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu in Mikatagahara, Tōtōmi Province on 25 January 1573. Shingen attacked Ieyasu at the plain of Mikatagahara north of Hamamatsu during his ca ...

（1573）

Early Modern Ages

Hamamatsu flourished during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

under a succession of ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

'' rulers as a castle town, and as a

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

on the Tōkaidō highway connecting

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

with

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

. File:Brooklyn Museum - Hamamatsu from Fifty-three Stations on the Tokaido Highway (Tokaido Goju-san Tsugi no Uchi) - Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando).jpg, Hamamatsu-juku File:Hamamatsu (5759536694).jpg, Hamamatsu-juku File:NDL-DC 2554563 04-Utagawa Hiroshige-東海道五拾三次舞坂-crd.jpg, Maisaka-juku File:Maisaka Gyosho Tokaido.jpg, Maisaka-juku

Late Modern Ages

After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, Hamamatsu became a short-lived prefecture from 1871 to 1876, after which it was united with Shizuoka Prefecture.

Hamamatsu Station is a railway station on the Tōkaidō Main Line and the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan, operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). The local Enshū Railway Line terminus of Shin-Hamamatsu Station is 3 mi ...

opened on the

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

in 1889. The same year, with the establishment of the modern municipalities system, Hamamatsu became a town. * July 1, 1911: Hamamatsu is upgraded from a town to a city * 1918:

Rice riots of 1918 The were a series of popular disturbances that erupted throughout Japan from July to September 1918, which brought about the collapse of the Terauchi Masatake administration. Causes A precipitous rise in the price of rice caused extreme econo ...

affect Hamamatsu * 1921: The village of Tenjinchō merges with Hamamatsu * 1926:

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

Hamamatsu Air Base is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base located north of the city of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, in central Japan. History Hamamatsu Air Base was established in 1925 as an Imperial Japanese Army Air Force base to be home to the newly f ...

opens * 1933: Imperial Japanese Army Flight School opens * 1936: The villages of Hikuma and Fujizuka merge with Hamamatsu * December 7, 1944: Tonankai earthquake causes much damage * June 1945: Hamamatsu largely destroyed by US air raids File:Hamamatsu Hirokoji Dori in 1930s.jpg, Hirokoji Street in the 1930s File:Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha headquarter & factory in Hamamatsu, c.1935.jpg, Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha headquarter & factory（1935） File:Hamamatsu after the 1945 air raid.JPG, Bombing of Hamamatsu in World War II（1945）

Contemporary Ages

* 1948: Hamamatsu Incident, ethnic rioting of

Zainichi Korean comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from Sout ...

residents. * 1951: The villages of Aratsu, Goto, and Kawarin merge with Hamamatsu * 1954: Eight villages in Hamana District merge with Hamamatsu * 1955: The village of Miyakoda merges with Hamamatsu * 1957: The village of Irino merges with Hamamatsu * 1960: The village of Seto merges with Hamamatsu * 1961: The village of Shinohara merges with Hamamatsu * 1965: The village of Shonai merges with Hamamatsu * May 1, 1990: Hamamatsu Arena opened * January 1, 1991: The village of Kami in Hamana District merges with Hamamatsu. * April 1, 1991: The first Hamamatsu International Piano Competition was held. * May 1, 1994: Act City Tower opened. * October 1, 1995: Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments opened. * April 1, 1996: Hamamatsu is designated a core city by the central government. * June 1, 1996: Hamamatsu City Fruit Park opened. * April 1, 1997: Hamamatsu is designated as an Omnibus Town. * April 1, 1998: Act City Musical School opened. * April 3, 2000:

Shizuoka University of Art and Culture The is a public university in Hamamatsu, in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Its mission is to foster the exchange of ideas between the fields of cultural studies and design by having the two combined at one relatively small institution. It is one o ...

opened. * July 1, 2001: The city's 90th anniversary is commemorated * 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: Hamamatsu absorbed the cities of

Hamakita was a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. On April 1, 2005, the city had an estimated population of 86,653 and a density of 1,300.00 persons per km2. The total area was 66.64 km2. It is now part of ward of Hamakita when t ...

and Tenryū; the town of Haruno (from Shūchi District), the towns of Hosoe, Inasa and Mikkabi (all from Inasa District), the towns of Misakubo and Sakuma, the village of Tatsuyama (all from Iwata District), and the towns of Maisaka and Yūtō (both from Hamana District) were merged into Hamamatsu. Inasa District and Iwata District were both dissolved as a result of this merger. Therefore, there are no more villages left in Shizuoka Prefecture. * April 1, 2007: Hamamatsu became a city designated by government ordinance by the central government.

Government

Hamamatsu has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

city legislature of 46 members. The city contributes 15 members to the Shizuoka Prefectural Assembly.

Wards

Hamamatsu is administratively divided into seven wards:

External relations

Twin towns – sister cities

International

;Sister City Hamamatsu has ratified Music Culture Exchange Treaty with the following cities (however, of the following Rochester is the only official sister city): ;Twinned Cities Hamamatsu is twinned with: ;Friendship cities

Economy

Hamamatsu Metropolitan Employment Area 2010

Hamamatsu has been famous as an industrial city, especially for

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

s and

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

s. It also has been known for fabric industry, but most of those companies and factories went out of business in the 1990s. As of 2010, Greater Hamamatsu, Hamamatsu Metropolitan Employment Area, has a GDP of US$54.3 billion. 2014 Hamamatsu's GDP per capita(PPP) was US$41,470.

Companies headquartered in Hamamatsu

* Enkei Corporation * Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. * Kawai Musical Instruments Mfg. *

Roland Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment, and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on 18 April 1972. In 2005, its headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. It has f ...

* Suzuki Motor Co. * Tōkai Gakki (also known as ''Tokai Guitars Company Ltd.'') *

Yamaha Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate with a very wide range of products and services. It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company. The former motorcycle divi ...

Companies founded in Hamamatsu

* Honda Motor Co.\
Acty System
File:The frontview of Suzuki SWIFT HYBRID RS (DAA-ZC53S).jpg, Suzuki Motor File:Yamaha MT-10.jpg, YAMAHA Motor

Media

Radio stations

* FM Haro! (JOZZ6AB FM, 76.1 MHz) * K-MIX (JOKU FM, 78.4 MHz) * NHK FM (JOPK FM, 82.1 MHz) * SBS Radio (1404 kHz / 94.7 MHz) * Radio Phoenix (internet)

Transportation

Airways

Airport

There are no civilian airports in Hamamatsu. Shizuoka Airport () is the closest, located from Hamamatsu Station, between Makinohara and Shimada.

Chūbu Centrair International Airport is an international airport on an artificial island in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan. Centrair is classified as a first class airport and is the main international gateway for the Chubu ...

, located about west of the city, is the second closest.

Railways

High-Speed Rail

;

Central Japan Railway Company is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 19 ...

：- - **JR Central Hamamatsu workshop: maintenance facility for the Tōkaidō Shinkansen

Conventional Lines

;

：- - * Iida Line：- - ; Entetsu logo

Enshū Railway *

Enshū Railway Line The Enshū Railway Line, officially the , is a Japanese railway line in Shizuoka Prefecture, running north from Shin Hamamatsu, Naka Ward through Nishi Kajima, Tenryū Ward, all within Hamamatsu. This is the only railway line Enshū Railway ( ...

：- ; Tenryū Hamanako Railroad * Tenryū Hamanako Line：- -

Roads

Expressways

Tōmei Expressway The is a national expressway on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. The expressway is designated as E1 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering", because it parallels N ...

(Hamamatsu interchange, Hamamatsu Nishi interchange, and Mikkabi interchange) * Shin-Tōmei Expressway

Hiways

* San-en Nanshin Expressway (under construction)

Bypasses

*Hamamatsu Bypass *Hamana Bypass

Japan National Highways

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Education

Shizuoka University of Art and Culture - Courtyard

Hamamatsu-Municipal-SeniorHighSchool-2014072102

Colleges and universities

* Hamamatsu Gakuin University * Hamamatsu University * Hamamatsu University School of Medicine * Seirei Christopher University * Shizuoka University (Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Informatics) *

* Seisa University, Hamamatsu campus * Tokoha University, Hamamatsu campus

Primary and secondary schools

Senior high schools operated by Shizuoka Prefecture: * Shizuoka Prefectural Hamamatsu North High School ( 静岡県立浜松北高等学校) * Shizuoka Prefectural Hamamatsu Nishi (West) Senior and Junior High Schools ( 静岡県立浜松西高等学校・中等部) * Shizuoka Prefectural Hamamatsu East High School ( 静岡県立浜松東高等学校) * Shizuoka Prefectural Hamamatsu South High School ( 静岡県立浜松南高等学校) * Shizuoka Prefectural Kiga High School ( 静岡県立気賀高等学校) * Shizuoka Prefectural Kohoku High School ( 静岡県立浜松湖東高等学校) * Shizuoka Prefectural Mikkabi High School ( 静岡県立三ヶ日高等学校) There is one senior high school operated by the city government: Hamamatsu Municipal Senior High School Elementary and junior high schools are operated by the city government. , the city had 117 public elementary schools and 52 public junior high schools.Aparecida, Tsutsumi Angela (Burajiru Fureai Kai).
The Contradiction Between "Being and Seeming" Reinforces Low Academic Performance

Archive
. ''US-China Education Review'' B 2 (2012) p. 217-223. CITED: p. 218.

Multicultural education

The city has the following

Brazilian international schools Brazilian commonly refers to: * Something of, from or relating to Brazil * Brazilian Portuguese, the dialect of the Portuguese language used mostly in Brazil * Brazilians, the people (citizens) of Brazil, or of Brazilian descent Brazilian may also ...

: * Escola Brasil (former Escola Brasileira de Hamamatsu) – Primary and secondary schoolEscolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão

Archive
. Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. Retrieved on October 13, 2015. *

Escola Alegria de Saber is a network of Brazilian international schools in Japan. It has campuses in Aichi, Gunma, Mie, and Shizuoka prefectures. The campuses, which have about 2,000 students as of 2015,ペルー学校) and Brazilian primary school, Mundo de Alegría. The city formerly hosted other Brazilian schools, Colégio Pitágoras Brasil and Escola Cantinho Feliz. As of May 1, 2009, the municipal elementary and junior high schools had 1,638 non-Japanese students.Kitawaki, Yasuyuki (北脇保之) (Former mayor of Hamamatsu, Director of the Center for Multilingual Multicultural Education and Research,

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies , often referred to as TUFS, is a specialist research university in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan. TUFS is primarily devoted to foreign language, international affairs and foreign studies. It also features an Asia-African institution. History The ...

(CEMMER, 東京外国語大学多言語・多文化教育研究センター)).
A Japanese approach to municipal diversity management: The case of Hamamatsu City

Archive
. ''Managing Diversity: Stronger Communities, Better Cities''
Information about the bookArchive
. At the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

website. Retrieved on October 12, 2015. PDF p. 7-8/13. , there were 932

Brazilians Brazilians ( pt, Brasileiros, ) are the citizens of Brazil. A Brazilian can also be a person born abroad to a Brazilian parent or legal guardian as well as a person who acquired Brazilian citizenship. Brazil is a multiethnic society, which ...

enrolled in Hamamatsu's municipal elementary and junior high schools: 646 Brazilians were enrolled in 61 public elementary schools, and 286 Brazilians were enrolled in 38 public junior high schools. Within public schools Brazilian students have the same academic programs and take the same classes as Japanese nationals. Special teachers and assistants work with foreign students at municipal elementary and junior high schools with significant numbers of non-Japanese enrolled.Kitawaki, Yasuyuki (北脇保之) (Former mayor of Hamamatsu, Director of the Center for Multilingual Multicultural Education and Research,

website. Retrieved on October 12, 2015. PDF p. 8/13. In particular the schools use their part-time interpreters to assist Brazilian students. The interpreters are not formal teachers, yet Tsutsumi Angela Aparecida of Hamamatsu's Burajiru Fureai Kai wrote that " eir assistance has become very useful". Toshiko Sugino of the

wrote that the municipal and prefectural schools in Hamamatsu "follow traditional views of education and enforce rigid school rules" despite the reputation of open-mindedness in the residents of Hamamatsu, causing some foreigners to send their non-Japanese children to foreign private schools.Sugino, Toshiko (

See list of reports
. p. 4/8. Retrieved on October 12, 2015. many Brazilian parents have difficulty in deciding whether to send their children to Japanese schools or Brazilian schools, and it is common for Brazilian children attending Japanese schools to switch to a Brazilian school and vice versa. By 2010 many Brazilian parents had lost their jobs due to an economic decline, and many were unable to afford the Brazilian school monthly tuitions of ¥30,000 to ¥40,000. about 50% of Brazilians of high school age in Hamamatsu do not attend high school. The inability to afford high school and difficulty with Japanese resulted in lower high school attendance rates. Hamamatsu NPO Network Center has made efforts to increase school attendance. In Hamamatsu volunteers and a non-profit organization have established Japanese-language classes and native language classes for foreign children.

Local attractions

* Act City Tower Observatory: Hamamatsu's only

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

, situated next to JR Hamamatsu Station, is a symbol of the city. It was designed to resemble a

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

, a reminder that Hamamatsu is sometimes known as the "City of Music". The building houses shopping and a food court, the Okura Hotel, and an observatory on the 45th floor overlooking all of central Hamamatsu, even down to the sand dunes at the shore. * Chopin Monument This is a 1:1-scale replica of the famous

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

bronze statue of Chopin by the famed artist Wacław Szymanowski. The original is in Hamamatsu's

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

.　 *

: Hamamatsu Castle Park stretches from the modern city hall building to the north. The castle is located on a hill in the southeast corner of the park, near city hall. It was built by

. His rule marks the beginning of the

. Tokugawa Ieyasu lived here from 1571 to 1588. There is a small museum inside, which houses some armor and other relics of the period, as well as a miniature model of how the city might have looked 400 years ago. North of the castle is a large park with a

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden des ...

, a koi pond, a ceremonial teahouse, and some commons areas. *

Nakatajima Sand Dunes are located at the southern part of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture at the Pacific Ocean coast of Japan. The sand dune area measures approximately 0.6 km from north to south and 4.0 km from east to west. It is considered one of Japa ...

: one of the three largest sand dune areas in Japan * Hamamatsu Flower Park * Hamamatsu Fruit Park * Hamamatsu Municipal Zoo * Iinoya-gū shrine * Motoshirochō Tōshō-gū shrine File:Hamamatsu Castle, enkei-3.jpg, Hamamatsu Castle File:Nakatajima sand dunes.jpg, Nakatajima Sand Dunes File:Flower park 1.JPG, Hamanako Garden Park File:Wedding Central Park.JPG, Hamamatsu Wedding Central Park File:Lake Hamana.JPG, Lake Hamana File:Pacific ocean.JPG, Hamamatsu Pacific Ocean File:Kanzanji ropeway.JPG, Lake Hamana PALPAL

Culture

Festivals

Akiha Fire Festival

: Haruno, Tenryu-ku: December 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. At the Akiha Temple, a firewalking ceremony is performed where both believers and spectators celebrate the festival.

Enshū Dainenbutsu

: Saigagake Museum, Hamamatsu City: July 15 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 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

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedles ...

s, Japanese

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s and

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

Hamamatsu Kite Festival

: Naka-ku, Minami-ku, others: May Hamamatsu Kite Festival is also called Hamamatsu Festival. Hamamatsu Kite Festival held from May 3 to May 5 each year, includes a ''Tako Gassen'', or 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 Kite Festival. During the nights of Hamamatsu Kite 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 representing the city's various districts compete by energetically marching through the downtown streets.

Hamakita Hiryu Festival

: Hamakita-ku: June This festival is held in honor of Ryujin, the god believed to be associated with the

, 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.

Hamamatsu International Piano Competition

: November This festival celebrates Hamamatsu's history as a city of musical instruments and music, and brings dozens of the best young pianists from all over the world. It has been held triennially since 1991 at the Act City Concert Hall and Main Hall.

Hamakita Man'yō Festival

: Hamakita-ku, Hamamatsu: October This event takes place in Man'yō-no-Mori Park to commemorate the Man'yō period and introduce its culture. As part of the festival, people reenact the ancient past by wearing traditional clothes from the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japan ...

and presenting

Japanese poetry Japanese poetry is poetry typical of Japan, or written, spoken, or chanted in the Japanese language, which includes Old Japanese, Early Middle Japanese, Late Middle Japanese, and Modern Japanese, as well as poetry in Japan which was written in th ...

readings.

Inasa Puppet Festival

: Inasa, Kita-ku: November One of the few

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move ...

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.

Princess Road Festival

: Hosoe, Kita-ku: April This reenactment of a procession made by the princess in her palanquin along with her entourage of over 100 people including maids,

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They ...

, and servants makes for a splendid scene beneath the

cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

s along the Toda River. In the

, princesses enjoyed traveling this road which came to be known as a '' hime kaidō'' (''princess road'').

Samba Festival

The Hamamatsu

Samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havi ...

Festival is held in the city.Kitawaki, Yasuyuki (北脇保之) (Former mayor of Hamamatsu, Director of the Center for Multilingual Multicultural Education and Research,

website. Retrieved on October 12, 2015. PDF p. 9/13.

Shoryu Weeping Ume Blossom Festival

: Inasa, Kita-ku: late February to late March In Ryusui Garden there is a stream with seven small waterfalls and about 80 weeping '' ume'' trees pruned to give the appearance of

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted a ...

s riding on clouds to the heavens. There are also 200 young trees planted along the mountainside.

Sports

File:Hamamatsu stadium.JPG, Hamamatsu stadium File:Hamamatsu Arena.jpg, Hamamatsu Arena File:HondaFC miyakoda1.JPG,

Honda Miyakoda Soccer Stadium Honda Miyakoda Soccer Stadium is a stadium located in Kita-ku, Hamamatsu. It is owned by the Honda Motor Company and is the home ground of Honda F.C. in the Japan Football League The also known as simply the JFL is the 4th tier of the Japanes ...

Football

Honda FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. They play in the Japan Football League. History The club was founded as Honda Motor, Honda works team in 1971. They were promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 ...

which plays

Japan Football League The also known as simply the JFL is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League associate membership a ...

(third division) games at their own Miyakoda Soccer Stadium. Honda competed in the

Japan Soccer League , or JSL, was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professional ...

's First Division from 1981 to 1991, but chose to relegate itself and not compete in the professional divisions due to parent company

's choice to retain team ownership. Many Hamamatsu football fans prefer to follow

Júbilo Iwata is a professional Japanese association football team that currently play in the J2 League. The team name ''Júbilo'' means 'joy' in Spanish and Portuguese. The team's hometown is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium. For ...

, across the

in Iwata. Júbilo maintains a club shop within Hamamatsu. * Volare FC Hamamatsu, an autonomous club who competed in the Tokai Regional Football League Division 2 in 2011, flouted plans to either overtake Honda FC or merge with it, but it finished last in the Tokai League and was relegated. Hamamatsu University also keeps a team in the said division, but college teams cannot be promoted to the top three tiers.

Basketball

SAN-EN NeoPhoenix is a B.League professional basketball team, based in the eastern Mikawa and Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture region of central Japan. The team was founded in 1965 as the company team of the OSG Corporation, a Toyokawa-based machine parts manufac ...

plays in the

B.League The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that ...

, Japan's first division of professional basketball. The team plays its home games at the Toyohashi City General Gymnasium. The Hamamatsu Arena was one of the host arenas of the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Hamamatsu 3x3 FIBA: Placed Second at FIBA World Tour FInal in ABU Dhabi in 2016. (Bikramjit Gill, Inderbir Gill, Chiro Kheda)

Women's volleyball

Hamamatsu was one of the host cities of the official 2010 Women's Volleyball World Championship.

Notable people

Hiroshi Amano is a Japanese physicist, engineer and inventor specializing in the field of semiconductor technology. For his work he was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Isamu Akasaki and Shuji Nakamura for "the invention of efficient ...

, 2014

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

winner * Haruhi Aiso, singer, songwriter * Barasui, manga artist * Yuri Chinen, J-pop talent, singer * Yōsuke Fujigaya, professional football player * Yuji Fujimoto, politician * Ken Fujita, professional football player * Hironoshin Furuhashi, Olympic swimmer * Kazuhiro Furuhashi, anime movie director * Tatsuya Furuhashi, professional football player * Taketoshi Gotoh, professional baseball player * Akari Hibino, voice actress * Coco Hayashi, voice actress * Soichiro Honda, engineer, industrialist, founder of Honda Motor Company * Yusuke Inuzuka, professional football player *

Yasuhide Ito is a contemporary Japanese composer. Early life As a child, Ito began to cultivate his interest in music by taking piano lessons. He continued to pursue a musical education and, by his third year of high school, had composed his first piece o ...

, composer * Toshio Kakei, actor * Takeshi Kamo, Olympic football player * Yoko Kando, Olympic swimmer * Naoyuki Kato, illustrator * Genichi Kawakami, former president of Yamaha *

Keisuke Kinoshita was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Ronald Berganbr>"A satirical eye on Japan: Keisuke Kinoshita" ''The Guardian'', 5 January 1999. While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi an ...

, movie director * Naoyuki Kinoshita, art historian *

Sanae Kobayashi is a Japanese voice actress formerly affiliated with Production Baobab, and now with Sigma Seven. She has voiced in a number of anime shows and films. Some of her major roles are Allen Walker in ''D.Gray-man'', Akira Toya in '' Hikaru no Go'' ...

, voice actress * Shigetatsu Matsunaga, professional football player *

Takuya Matsuura is a Japanese football player currently playing for Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club currently plays in the J1 Leagu ...

, professional football player * Kanako Momota, J-pop singer and leader of

Momoiro Clover Z is a Japanese idol girl group, commonly abbreviated as MCZ or . The four members of MCZ are known for energetic performances, incorporating elements of ballet, gymnastics, and action movies. MCZ is notable for being the first female group to h ...

* Kiiti Morita, mathematician * Ken Namba, composer * Jiro Ono, renowned sushi chef * Yuki Oshitani, professional football player * Ken'ya Ōsumi, dancer * Keisuke Ota, professional football player * Yoshiaki Ota, professional football player * Fumiya Sankai, Vlogger and actor in the Philippines, recording artist, and a businessman * Kentaro Sato, composer * Shinichiro Sawai, movie director, screenwriter * Goro Shimura, mathematician *

Ryu Shionoya is a Japanese masculine given name and family name meaning "dragon", "noble", "prosperous", or "flow". Ryū, Ryu, or ryu may also refer to: Fiction * ''Ryū'' (manga), a 1986 series by Masao Yajima and Akira Oze * , a 1919 book by Ryūnosuke Aku ...

, politician * Hideto Suzuki, professional football player * Koji Suzuki, science-fiction writer * Michio Suzuki, founder of Suzuki Motors * Yasutomo Suzuki, politician, mayor of Hamamatsu * Saya Takagi, actress * Kenjiro Takayanagi, engineer, pioneer in development of the television *

Nobuhiro Takeda is a Japanese former football player. He played for Japan national team. He was a forward and known as an opportunistic goal-scorer, making most of his quick thinking and canny positioning. He currently works at Nippon Television and belongs ...

, professional football player * Kenji Tsuruta, manga artist * Kōji Tsuruta, actor * Azumi Uehara, J-pop singer * Hiromi Uehara, Jazz composer, pianist * Tetsuya Wakuda, Japanese-Born Australian Chef * Kosuke Yamamoto, professional football player * Masaaki Yanagishita, professional football player * Kisho Yano, professional football player

References

External links

* *
In Hamamatsu
* *

{{Authority control Brazilian communities Cities in Shizuoka Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan