Hamamatsu

Hamamatsu is the largest city in the Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan.¹ The city is home to the largest population of Brazilians in Japan and is called the "City of Music".^{1 2}

Fast Facts

1. Country: Japan
2. Region: Chubu
3. Mayor: Yasutomo Suzuki
4. Language spoken: Japanese
5. Currency: Japanese yen (JPY)
6. Country code: + 81
7. Area code: 534
8. Time zone: Japan Standard Time (JST)
9. City population: 825,810 (October 2008)³
10. Climate: Temperate
11. Location of headquarters of major companies like Yamaha, Kawai, Roland, Honda, and Suzuki⁴

History

The name of Hamamatsu originated from the Nara Period, when it was then called Hamatsu. The area became a battlefield between warring clans Tokugawa, Imagawa and Takeda. Hamamatsu Castle was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu which he moved into in 1570.⁵ In 1871, Hamamatsu became capital of the Hamamatsu Prefecture to west of Shizuoka. The town was established in 1888 and by 1900, companies were established in Hamamatsu that would later become major industries of the city. Hamamatsu became a municipality in 1911, and was heavily bombed in the early morning of June 18, 1945. Act City was built in 1994, and Hamamatsu became a core city on April 1, 1996.

Landmarks

• Hamamatsu Castle
• Act City Tower Observatory
• Chopin Monument

Notable People from Hamamatsu

• Michio Suzuki, founder (Suzuki Motor Corporation)⁶
• Soichiro Honda, founder (Honda Corporation)⁷
• Torakusu Yamaha, founder (Yamaha Corporation)⁸
• Kenjiro Takayanagi, inventor⁹
• Koichi Kawai, founder (Kawai Musical Instruments Manfacturing)¹⁰

Related Pages on Mahalo

Japan | Japanese | Tokyo | Shizuoka | Tomakomai | Kyoto | Nagoya | Honda | Suzuki

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