As Christmas approaches, the Hamamatsu Flower Park is illuminated with a warm glow, as if to alleviate the winter cold.

The park will be lit up from 5pm, when it is normally closed. We spoke to Mr. Yamashita, the team leader who has been in charge of plant management and decoration at Hamamatsu Flower Park for over 10 years, about “Flower Illumination,” where you can enjoy strolling through the park decked out in a million illuminations under the night sky. I did.

Mikkabi area in autumn and winter, when the mandarin orange trees bear fruit and the wide sky is sparkling with orange.

Among them, I visited the Hamanako Paragliding School, which is a 5-minute drive from the Tomei Mikkabi Interchange, because I heard that it had a spectacular view.

We spoke to Tsubasa Aoki, the principal of the school, at the paragliding flight site that overlooks Lake Hamana from an altitude of 420 meters.

“People in Hamamatsu talk condescendingly, or rather reservedly, about local industry and culture.”

During my training at a top-class restaurant in Kyoto, I was surprised to find that they used a lot of ingredients from Enshu and Hamamatsu, such as shrimp potatoes, eel, shinko from Lake Hamana, conger eel, and melons for dessert, and I realized the charm of the local area from the outside. Mr. Kentaro Nakamura, the owner of Totoichi, said that he did.

Among the ingredients that are shipped to Tokyo and Kyoto but are not actively consumed locally, we will focus on seafood, where freshness affects the taste.

“When I want to eat fish, I feel like it’s a waste that the only option is a sushi restaurant, so I decided to open a restaurant in Hamamatsu that specializes in fish.”

Lake Hamana may have a strong image of marine leisure, but not many people know that it is actually a place where you can enjoy hiking and trail running. To the west are the Kosai Mountain Range, and to the north are the mountains Jogamine and Tommakuyama, where hiking trails are available. It is also popular as a low-altitude hike that can be easily done on holidays.

This time, I used the Tenryu Hamanako Railway to walk the course from Hamanako Sakume Station to the summit of Jogamine and descend to Kiga Station, and I would like to share with you how it went.

If you were asked, “What snack goes best with beer?”, how would you answer?

Edamame, fried chicken, and potatoes. While there are many different dishes that come to mind, one that you must not forget is “gyoza”! .

“Hamamatsu Gyoza” competes with Utsunomiya Gyoza every year for the number one spot in Japan in terms of gyoza consumption. This time, we will be reporting on the “Introduction to recommended gyoza” held on YOUTUBE in conjunction with the “Hamamatsu Craft Beer Adventure” where you can enjoy craft beers from all over the country.

*What is Sea Lake HAMANA Jenne? A team of 12 women who are active in the area who promote the charm of the local area on SNS.

I decided to walk down Honsaka-dori (commonly known as Hime-kaido), which has been a side street of the Tokaido since ancient times and has been visited by many travelers.

Last time, I walked from the Amma starting point in Chuo Ward, Hamamatsu City to Kiga-shuku in Hamana Ward.

This time, I would like to continue walking from Kiga-juku to Mikkabi-juku.

The atmosphere is different from the section I walked last time, with cobblestone streets and historic sites scattered throughout.

This is a journey where you can feel the vestiges of the past, when many travelers came and went.

I walked around feeling like a person from the past, so I’ll tell you what it was like.

Speaking of Hamamatsu City Kanzanji, it is famous for the Hamamatsu City Zoo and the amusement park Hamanako Pal Pal, but the marine sports season is also here and the area is becoming more and more crowded.

We spoke to Mr. Toshitaka Niimura, the representative of “Phantom Marine Kodama,” which operates a pleasure boat and marine leisure business at Lake Hamana Marina, about “parasailing,” which is popular in overseas resorts.

The rainy season is over and summer is in full swing. Supermarkets are busy selling “Doyo no Ushi” eel. For a long time, people believed that people should eat eel to get plenty of nutrients during the summer when people tend to get sick, and there are poems about eel in the Manyoshu.

We spoke to Mr. Masaaki Yamashita of Tenpo Co., Ltd. second generation Ikeban Co., Ltd., who runs an eel farm in Hamamatsu City, about eel, which Japanese people have a connection with and love.

Left/Mr. Shota Yamashita, 3rd generation pond keeper, Right/Mr. Masaaki Yamashita, 2nd generation pond keeper

On July 10, 2021, the commissioning ceremony for “Sea Lake HAMANA Jenne” was held at Lake Hamana under clear skies.

Sea Lake HAMANA Jenne is a team that promotes the appeal of the region, made up of women who are active in the Hamamatsu/Lake Hamana area. The new members who joined on this day are Ms. Anna Mizogaki and Ms. Wakana Mizogaki, and they are sisters from Hamamatsu City.

If you are a citizen of Hamamatsu, you can name your favorite gyoza restaurant and say, “I love the gyoza here!”

“Hamamatsu Gyoza” is one of the local foods that cannot be overstated.

Currently, there are approximately 80 gyoza specialty shops in Hamamatsu City, and over 300 gyoza shops.

Hamamatsu gyoza is extremely popular all over the country.

The definition of “Hamamatsu Gyoza” is “made in Hamamatsu City” and “people who have lived in Hamamatsu City for more than 3 years”.

There are two examples.

What is the history of Hamamatsu Gyoza that is rooted in Hamamatsu City?

As I was thinking about this, I started to want to eat the original Hamamatsu gyoza.

At Manyo-no-Mori Park in Hamakita Ward, a Manyo plant dyeing experience is held four times a year (approximately once every three months).

At the Kibe Kibe workshop located within the park, you can enjoy itajime and tie-dyeing using plants that appear in the Manyoshu, such as safflower, indigo, and madder.

This time we will introduce silk chiffon dyeing using the leaves of Asebi Asebi. We took on the challenge of making an original stole using three types of mordant while learning from Mr. Miki from the machine workshop!

The experience time is approximately 2 hours. Even those who are new to vegetable dyeing can easily participate.

In Tenryu Ward, Hamamatsu City, there is a 100% natural wine cellar made from a reused unfinished railway tunnel. The entrance to the cellar that suddenly appears in the midst of the great nature of Tenryu has a mystical atmosphere that makes you feel like you have wandered into the world of a story. “Hamamatsu Wine Cellar” is a place only known among wine lovers. .

I heard that a new initiative was being taken at this facility, and on that day I visited it with freelance announcer Minori Konuma, Umi no Lake HAMANA Jenne, Ogawa Ayano, and Okubo Yuna.