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

I heard that there is a place in Harunocho, Tenryu Ward, Hamamatsu City that is called “Tenryu’s Karuizawa.” Once a month, you can enjoy freshly baked pizza made in a wood-fired oven. The name of the shop is Harubaru.

Hamamatsu is an area with a large number of dog lovers, with the number of registered dogs per 1,000 households being 157.6 per 1,000 households (157.6), ranking first in Japan (*). *Refer to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s “Examples of Hygiene Reports”

“THE SCENE hamanako”, a luxury dog ​​hotel by the lake, has newly opened in Hamamatsu, where dog lovers gather.

This is the perfect spot for people who want to create special memories with their dogs.

This time, I would like to introduce “THE SCENE hamanako”, a new attraction of Lake Hamana.

There are three main attractive points about “THE SCENE hamanako.”

①Location with a panoramic view of Lake Hamana

②Luxury guest rooms where even large dogs can relax

③ Facilities and services that you can enjoy with your dog

I would like to introduce ① to ③ along with photos of people who actually stayed there.

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.

Blood thinning, fatigue recovery, constipation relief, and anti-aging. All of these are health words that you may be interested in.

There’s something about this health word that really hits home. Onions are a classic vegetable that everyone knows. You can boil it, stir-fry it, or have it in Japanese, Western, or Chinese style! It is a versatile ingredient.

I think many people are aware of the high nutritional value of onions, which have been featured frequently on health programs in recent years, but did you know that onions are sensitive to heat and water? It is said that eating raw is the best way to absorb nutrients more effectively. However, regular onions have a uniquely strong spiciness and are difficult to eat raw.

Therefore, I would like to recommend pure white onions from Shinohara, Chuo-ku, Hamamatsu City, which are less spicy. They are the earliest onions in Japan to be shipped early in the new year, and are delicious and can be eaten raw.

Harvested white onions from Shinohara with pure white skin.

Speaking of onions that can be eaten raw, “new onions” are in season from spring to early summer (March to May). Shinohara-grown white onions are faster than that. It will be available from January, right after the New Year. The Shinohara district is located in the south of Hamamatsu City, close to the sea. The region has been a thriving producer of onions since the Meiji era, with a warm climate suitable for growing onions, sandy soil with good drainage, and a high groundwater level.

However, rather than the typical brown onions with dry skins, the onions produced here are harvested with green leaves and are shipped immediately. It is shipped under names such as “salad onion,” “white onion,” and “white onion.”

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.

Hamamatsu, where the highest temperature in Japan this summer was recorded at 41.1 degrees Celsius, is finally starting to feel the autumn breeze. “Autumn Festa 2020″ has begun at Hamanako Garden Park. This year’s period is approximately one month from September 26th (Saturday) to November 3rd (Tuesday/holiday). Along with 400,000 cosmos trees, there will be events that people of all ages can enjoy, such as nature yoga on the lawn, children’s sketching classes, and ground golf, so you can enjoy “autumn of art” and “autumn of sports” all at once. can.

Hamanako Garden Park hosted the Hamanako Flower Expo in 2004, and more than 5 million people visited in six months. Admission is free and parking is available, and it is a popular spot decorated with colorful flowers and trees each season. Although the park is crowded with people, the grounds are large so you can enjoy a walk without worrying about crowds.

Hamamatsu Craft Beer Festival is held every year at Solamo where you can enjoy unique craft beers from all over the country. This year (2020), in consideration of safety and security, the event at Solamo has been canceled and will be held online. Over the past few years, craft beer has become a common sight on the menu at restaurants, and it seems that there are many fans across the country. Many of you may be wondering how you can enjoy this year’s online event. I would like to introduce how to enjoy Hamamatsu Craft Beer Festival ONLINE 2020, which will be held this weekend. (This event has already ended)

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.

This year too, the delicious treasure grown in the forest, “Kicoro forest scented tea,” will be coming to town.

It is Kuromoji tea from Tenryu Forest, which was created with the idea of ​​being an “entrance to get people interested in the forest,” and is harvested only once a year in early spring.

I first encountered this tea four years ago. At a cafe in Tenryu Ward, a friend recommended it to me and said, “This Kuromoji tea is delicious. It’s made from wood.” When I asked her, “What is a tree? You mean the leaves on that tree?”, she answered that they were not actually leaves. When we think of tea, we think of green tea or herbal tea, which is made from soft materials such as leaves and flower petals. So when I was told that it was made from wood, I couldn’t imagine it.

What arrived on the table was a gentle pink tea with a very nice aroma that overturned the image of “wood”.

You may not be familiar with the “Kuromoji” tree, but you might know it as a sweet toothpick used to cut up Japanese sweets and bring them to your mouth.

Nowadays, many of them are made of plastic or other wood, but they were originally made from the Kuromoji tree, which has a pleasant aroma and antibacterial properties. It is well known that when Sen no Rikyu, a famous tea master, made tea for Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he offered them a freshly shaved fragrant toothpick from a branch of the Kuromoji tree in his garden. The scent of Kuromoji may have soothed the spirits of war-torn military commanders.

Japanese sweets and Kuromoji cutting sweets

Kuromoji is said to be an aromatic native to Japan, and its refreshing yet sweet scent is said to have antiviral and relaxing effects. It is said that it is also included in Chanel No. 5, and it is a tree that is like the savior of today’s times.

Kuromoji has been drunk for treatment and health since ancient times. A herbal medicine called Usho is made from the leaves and branches, and it is also brewed and drunk as a health tea. So, what is the difference between Tenryu no Mori’s Kuromoji tea and the health teas that have been drunk up until now?

The person who makes Tenryu Forest’s Kuromoji tea is Mr. Takeshi Maeda, who works as a “visible woodcutter” to connect the mountains and the city. Even though I don’t like the outdoors or the rain, I was selfish because I wanted to see the black moji tree. Then, on a rainy day at the start of the rainy season, Mr. Maeda showed me around Kikoro Forest in Tenryu.

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.