At the time we visited Hamamatsu, Pete had owned a Suzuki V-strom motorcycle for years. So when we found out that not only was there a Suzuki factory in Hamamatsu, but you could visit the Suzuki history museum for free (so long as you register your visit in advance on the website https://www.suzuki-rekishikan.jp/english/ ) of course we had to go. It turned out to be far more than we’d anticipated; weaving textiles, flight simulators, profiles of Japanese inventors, a lot of local history, and we absolutely loved it.
There is also a science museum in Hamamatsu, but we didn’t get to visit that as we discovered it was closed for renovations. As it turned out, that was a blessing, because if we’d missed out on a second of our time at the museum of musical instruments I would have been very sad!
The museum of musical instruments — https://www.inhamamatsu.com/art/museum-of-Musical-Instruments.php — was completely fascinating and a must visit for any musician or music lover. I could easily have spent a full day there and still wanted to come back. Instruments from around the world, many with audio examples, and the information provided was excellent. I hope the play area has survived post-covid because it really was so much fun!