All I knew about Hamamatsu was that it is famous for eating boiled bean sprouts together with gyoza dumplings, but this trip made me realize that Hamamatsu has lots of other things to offer apart from gyoza dumplings.
I went to an open-air Japanese bath for the first time, I ate Hamamatsu’s famous grilled eel, and I also went to Hamamatsu’s famous amusement park with my children.
I also visited Lake Hamana, one of Japan’s most famous lakes.
The best part of the trip for me was trying a Japanese onsen hot spring for the first time at the hotel where I stayed with my family.
The hot spring was divided into male and female sections, and I went into the female section with our 3-year-old son, and my husband went into the male section with our 18-month-old son.
The hot spring at the hotel was large and some of the hot springs were as large as a person. There were also baths where you could lie down and very hot baths, and baths that were just the right temperature for entering with children.
It took about an hour as we tried lots of different baths, but it was great fun.
Another part of the trip that I really enjoyed was seeing Lake Hamana.
Lake Hamana is well-known in Japan as being famous for water sports.
There are lots of resorts around the lake and we enjoyed boating and sports there, but my family and I also went by cable car to the top of a mountain and looked down over the lake. The view that spreads before my eyes there was so beautiful that it was an experience I will never forget.
The final thing that we enjoyed on this trip was taking the children to visit the Hamanako Palpal amusement park.
This is Hamamatsu’s famous amusement park and its special feature is its characters that were designed by Takashi Yanase, who also draws the animation character, Anpanman.
It is not as big as Disneyland, but it does have a lot of different attractions.
They include a ferris wheel, merry-go-round, train, go-karts, and roller-coaster. My favorite was the Kids Tengoku (“Kids Heaven”).
This was indoors and air-conditioned with a small train and ball house.
I recommend it as a great place for adults to relax while the kids are playing in the Kids Tengoku.
My children loved the maze that was a 4-story building made of wood.
It had interesting doors.
Some of them had to be opened in a special way and there were some routes you could only go along by crawling or climbing, and there was lots to explore.
We managed to climb up to the 4th floor and ring the bell installed at the top and finish the maze.
There were also missions where you had to collect 3 stamps and you could choose either to take the A or B route.
The children had a great time playing here.
I enjoyed it together with my son, and at last after about 30 minutes we managed to find the exit.
It was a good experience for both me and my son.
Hamamatsu might not be very famous among overseas visitors to Japan yet, but it is a place that Japanese often visit as families, or with friends, or with someone special.
If you have a chance to visit Hamamatsu, I hope you have a great time and make some wonderful memories like I did with my family there.
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