[2] The area now comprising Hamamatsu has been settled since prehistoric times, with numerous remains from the Jōmon period and Kofun period having been discovered within the present city limits, including the Shijimizuka site shell mound and the Akamonue Kofun ancient tomb.

It is roughly bordered by Lake Hamana to the west, the Tenryū River to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the south.

The population of Nikkei foreigners, especially Brazilians, increased after a 1990 change in Japanese immigration law allowed them to work in Japan.

[10] Many foreigners work in the manufacturing sector, taking temporary jobs in Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha plants.

[13] Hamamatsu has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 46 members.

Chūbu Centrair International Airport in Aichi Prefecture, located about 87 kilometres (54 mi)[21] west of the city, is the second closest.

[23] Special teachers and assistants work with foreign students at municipal elementary and junior high schools with significant numbers of non-Japanese enrolled.

The interpreters are not formal teachers, yet Tsutsumi Angela Aparecida of Hamamatsu's Burajiru Fureai Kai wrote that "[t]heir assistance has become very useful".

When a family commemorates the first Obon holidays after the death of a loved one, they may request that a dainenbutsu (Buddhist chanting ritual) be performed outside their house.

The group always forms a procession in front of the house led by a person carrying a lantern and marches to the sound of flutes, Japanese drums and cymbals.

The festival originated about 430 years ago, when the lord of Hamamatsu Castle celebrated the birth of his first son by flying kites.

The festival reaches its peak when groups representing the city's various districts compete by energetically marching through the downtown streets.

This festival is held in honor of Ryujin, the god believed to be associated with the Tenryū River, and features a wide variety of events such as the Hamakita takoage (kite flying) event and the Hiryu himatsuri (flying dragon fire festival) which celebrates water, sound, and flame.

As part of the festival, people reenact the ancient past by wearing traditional clothes from the Heian period and presenting Japanese poetry readings.

This reenactment of a procession made by the princess in her palanquin along with her entourage of over 100 people including maids, samurai, and servants makes for a splendid scene beneath the cherry blossoms along the Toda River.

[31] In Ryusui Garden there is a stream with seven small waterfalls and about 80 weeping ume trees pruned to give the appearance of dragons riding on clouds to the heavens.