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.

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.

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.

(Left) Professional athlete: Mr. Junya Sano (former All Japan Road Race Champion), (Right) Team representative and manager: Mr. Yasuhiro Nito

Are you familiar with the term “trail running”?

Trail running is a type of middle-distance running that involves running in mountains and fields other than on paved roads. In Japan, many people are probably familiar with the names “cross country” and “mountain racing.” Unlike mountain biking and other competitions that use vehicles, trail running has the unique appeal of running through nature on your own. Because you run off-road with ups and downs, you can feel more connected to nature and enjoy the changes in the surrounding scenery than you would with regular running. At a time when various leisure activities are being forced to struggle to prevent infection due to the effects of the new coronavirus, trail running is attracting attention as a way to avoid crowds and have fun.

After doing some research, I learned that Hamamatsu’s running club “Smiley Angel”* has been promoting trail running in Hamamatsu in recent years. Although I had no experience with trail running, I decided to attend a Smiley Angel practice session to experience the new charm of the Hamamatsu/Lake Hamana area.

*A citizen running club operated by Kyorindo Pharmacy Co., Ltd., headquartered in Hamamatsu, since 2012.

I went on a touring tour using YSP Hamamatsu’s rental bike in the summer and it was so much fun and unforgettable that I thought I’d go touring somewhere nearby again! That’s what we talked about.

I decided to go on a touring trip with a theme, so I decided to go on a motorcycle trip with the title “Touring around the dragons of Lake Okuhamana.” I would like to introduce that situation.

The mornings and evenings are getting much cooler. It’s still hot during the day, but I think there are more and more people who want to go out but are worried about where they’re going and how they’re going to spend their time there.

This time, I would like to introduce a special plan that will make you feel like you are at a resort while eating fresh and delicious seafood caught at Lake Hamana in an environment that avoids crowds.

Lately, when I’m walking or driving on the road, I’ve begun to often see people cycling in the Hamanako area. He looks very cool wearing sportswear and riding a special bicycle.

I wanted to try it too, but I just couldn’t take the first step. This is because of the impression of cycling and the height of the hurdles.

What kind of image do you have when you hear the word “cycling”? Prepare a special bicycle, wear special clothing, and ride the bicycle vigorously. There are probably rules such as roads you can run on and roads you shouldn’t run on. However, as a beginner, these impressions made me feel that it would be a difficult hurdle to start cycling on my own, and I had a hard time mustering up the courage to do so. I got information that a cycling tour around Lake Hamana was being held in such a place, so I decided to participate in the cycling tour.

“Is there a fireworks display somewhere today?” I often get asked when I’m wearing a yukata. This is probably because many people have an established image of it as something to wear when going to a fireworks display. They brightly color the Japanese summer, and just seeing them will instantly get you in the summer mood. In fact, yukata is a specialty product that Hamamatsu accounts for about half of the total amount handled, and boasts the highest amount of yukata in Japan.

The manufacturer of Hamamatsu-made yukata has begun a “new challenge” in order to preserve the area of ​​production and the skills of its craftsmen. What we will be talking about here is a yukata made using the traditional “Chusen-some” technique. In recent years, it has been introduced more and more in the news, and you may have come across this word more often. Chusen-some is a method of dyeing yukata and tenugui with colored patterns, and it got its name from the fact that the dye is poured over the folded fabric. Using traditional techniques found only in Japan, every step is made by hand by skilled craftsmen.

As I spend more time at home, I find myself worrying more about what to do, especially on holidays. At that time, I happened to look at SNS and saw an experience that an acquaintance had introduced saying that there was something like this. It is a kit called “Shokunin-san” by Ganyudo.

Ganyudo is a long-established traditional store that was founded in the Meiji era, and each of its Japanese sweets are carefully made by craftsmen, and from the appearance to the taste, each one is overflowing with a sense of happiness that cannot be expressed in words. Ganyudo sells a kit called “Shokunin-san” by mail order, which allows you to make Japanese sweets like a craftsman, but how can you look at the samples without actually having the craftsman nearby? I guess I can get some advice…

With this in mind, I opened the “Shokunin-san” kit I had purchased out of curiosity. I felt a sense of excitement, like opening a gift box. The box had a nice photo of Ganyudo’s Japanese sweets, giving off the atmosphere of a strict, long-established Japanese sweets shop.

Did you know that Hamamatsu ranks first among the 20 largest cities in Japan in terms of the percentage of households that own a pet dog? Since there are many dog ​​lovers, there are naturally many facilities that welcome dogs and other pets. This time, I would like to introduce spots around Hamamatsu and Lake Hamana where you can easily go and play with your dog.

This time we will be traveling with Mr. Iijima’s family who live in Hamamatsu City. My beloved dogs are Siberian Huskies “Ritaro-kun” (left) and “Kotaro-kun” (right).

Ritarou is a gentle and friendly dog ​​who plays well with all dogs. He loves chasing other dogs at the dog park and digging holes.

Kotaro is a spoiled and lonely dog ​​who gets angry and howls when his owner interacts with children. Even though he’s a Siberian Husky, he doesn’t really like walking and is sensitive to the cold.

By the way, both of them love bread.

In the Hamamatsu/Lake Hamana area, there are many people who share their enthusiasm through a variety of experiences. Is this a challenge that comes from a “Yaramaika spirit”?

Today, Sea Lake HAMANA Jenne and her friends came to the butcher shop “Tonkii” in Hosoe, Chuo Ward, Hamamatsu City. Just from the name, it seems like you can eat delicious meat.

This time, we started with a sausage making experience. After putting on an apron and getting ready to cook, the president first explained about Tonkii’s meat. The president enthusiastically tells us about the meat, what kind of feed is given to the pigs, and what kind of meat is produced from it. The idea behind this experience was that he wanted to share with the people who eat the food things that only those close to him knew about. Jenne and the others listened to his enthusiasm with serious eyes.