Hamamatsu Unagi Guide 2026: Japan's Eel Capital & Lake Hamana

Most foreign visitors to Shizuoka stop at the eastern half — Fuji, Atami, the Izu coast — and never reach Hamamatsu, which is a pity, because western Shizuoka is where the prefecture eats best. Hamamatsu is Japan’s eel city. Its position beside the brackish lagoon of Lake Hamana made it the historic centre of unagi farming, and the charcoal-grilled, sweet-savoury kabayaki served here is the reason to come. Around the eel sit a brackish lake with its own onsen and the only lake-crossing ropeway in Japan, an air-force museum that is genuinely fun, and, inland, the green-tea heartland with two of Shizuoka’s best castles and Japan’s largest tea museum. This guide covers where to eat the eel, what else to do, and how to put it together. It is written for food-minded travellers and anyone curious about the half of Shizuoka the guidebooks skip.

At a glance

• What it is: a guide to Hamamatsu’s eel, Lake Hamana and the tea-country sights inland
• The signature dish: charcoal-grilled freshwater eel (unagi kabayaki / hitsumabushi)
• Don’t miss: a century-old eel specialist, the Lake Hamana ropeway, Kakegawa Castle, the tea museum
• Cost markers: una-ju or hitsumabushi ~¥3,000–6,000; Lake Hamana ropeway ~¥1,100; Kakegawa Castle ~¥410 (approx., 2026)
• Getting there: Hamamatsu is a Hikari shinkansen stop, ~1.5 hours from Tokyo or ~30 minutes from Nagoya

The eel: where and how to eat it

Hamamatsu’s eel tradition grew out of Lake Hamana, where eel farming took hold in the late nineteenth century, and the city still treats unagi as its defining dish. The classic preparation is kabayaki: the eel is split, skewered, steamed and grilled over charcoal, then lacquered in a sweet-savoury tare and served over rice as una-ju. The other way to order it is hitsumabushi, the Nagoya-region style where the eel and rice come in a tub you eat three ways — plain, then with condiments, then as a tea-soup pour-over.

For a long-standing specialist, Unagi Fujita, founded in 1892, is a reliable benchmark, with its main Hamamatsu store at Komamochi and other branches around the city; the flesh comes out tender, the skin crisp at the edges, the tare deep from generations of topping up. Other century-old houses worth knowing are Unagi Ryori Atsumi (founded 1907 and a Tabelog Top 100 eel restaurant), Kanerin Unagi-ten (a hundred-plus-year shop) and Unasho. An una-ju or hitsumabushi runs roughly ¥3,000–6,000 (approx., 2026). One tip: eel restaurants fill up fast, so go early for lunch or expect a wait, and if your first choice is full, the city is thick with alternatives.

Lake Hamana and the city

Beyond the eel, Lake Hamana is a large brackish lagoon open to the sea, ringed by the Kanzanji onsen district. The most scenic way to take it in is the Kanzanji Ropeway, the only lake-crossing cable car in Japan, which rises from the Pal Pal lakeside park over the water to Mount Okusa, where an observatory and a small organ museum look out over the lagoon to the Pacific (round trip about ¥1,100, approx., 2026; best near sunset). The lakeside resorts make a comfortable base — the large Grand Mercure Hamanako Resort & Spa (formerly the Hamanako Royal) on the southwest shore has hot-spring baths and lake-view rooms.

In the city itself, Hamamatsu Castle is the keep Tokugawa Ieyasu held in his rising years, from which he weathered a famous defeat at Mikatagahara before going on to unify Japan — earning it the nickname “castle of success”, a lucky stop for the career-minded. The compact reconstructed keep stands on a fine “wild” stone base of rough, uncut boulders, with a small museum inside and a city view from the top (admission about ¥200; the park is free). A short drive away, the free Air Park, the public-information museum of Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force on the edge of Hamamatsu air base, fills a big hangar with retired fighter jets and a real Blue Impulse aerobatic aircraft, with cockpit displays and a flight simulator — a hit with children and aircraft fans alike (closed Mondays and the last Tuesday of the month).

One note for planners: Hamamatsu’s Museum of Musical Instruments, the city’s other famous attraction in this music town (home to Yamaha and Kawai), is closed for renovation through around July 10, 2026 — confirm its reopening before building it into a 2026 trip.

Inland: castles and tea country

The hills inland of Hamamatsu are green-tea country, and a day there rounds out the trip. Ryotanji, the ancestral temple of the Ii clan in Iinoya, is best known for its pond garden behind the main hall, attributed to the master designer Kobori Enshu — a composition of clipped azaleas, moss and rock best viewed seated on the temple veranda (admission about ¥500). Kakegawa Castle is one of the few castle keeps in Japan rebuilt in authentic wood rather than concrete, reconstructed in 1994 with traditional carpentry; its neighbouring Ninomaru Goten, an original surviving palace hall, is an Important Cultural Property and arguably the more remarkable building (combined admission about ¥410).

For the leaf itself, the Fujinokuni Tea Museum at Shimada is the place to understand why Shizuoka grows more green tea than any other prefecture — exhibits on tea history and culture, a hands-on hand-rolling experience, an Enshu-style tea-ceremony garden, and a restaurant for a tea-themed lunch and tasting (museum admission about ¥300; experiences extra). Deeper into the mountains, the teal-water Yumeno Tsuribashi (“dream suspension bridge”) of Sumata Gorge is one of central Japan’s most photographed spots, though access by the Oigawa Railway is only partly running in 2026 (a stretch is bus-substituted), so a car and a timetable check are wise.

Our Hamamatsu and Lake Hamana itinerary links the eel, the lake and the inland tea-country sights across two days with timings and coordinates.

Practical notes

Getting there and around. Hamamatsu is a Hikari shinkansen stop, about an hour and a half from Tokyo or thirty minutes from Nagoya. The eel restaurants and castle are reachable by bus and taxi in the city; Lake Hamana and the inland sights are far easier with a rental car, which also handles the long valley drive to Sumata Gorge.

How long to stay. Two days suits it well — one for the eel, the lake and the city, one inland for the castles and tea country. A single day can cover an eel lunch, the castle and the lake ropeway.

When to go. Year-round for the eel; spring and autumn are kindest for the inland gardens and the gorge, and the tea hills are greenest from late spring. Avoid building plans around the Museum of Musical Instruments until its mid-2026 reopening is confirmed. Note that Japan’s international departure tax rises from ¥1,000 to ¥3,000 per person from July 1, 2026.

For the eastern, Fuji-and-Ieyasu half of the prefecture, see our Shizuoka city itinerary.

FAQ

Why is Hamamatsu famous for unagi (eel)? Hamamatsu sits beside Lake Hamana, a brackish lagoon where commercial eel farming took hold in the late nineteenth century, making the city the historic centre of Japan’s unagi industry. The local charcoal-grilled kabayaki, lacquered in a sweet-savoury tare and served over rice, is the dish the region is built on.

Where should I eat eel in Hamamatsu? Long-standing specialists include Unagi Fujita (founded 1892, main store at Komamochi), Unagi Ryori Atsumi (1907, a Tabelog Top 100 eel restaurant), Kanerin Unagi-ten and Unasho. Order an una-ju or the three-way hitsumabushi; expect to pay roughly ¥3,000–6,000 and go early, as eel restaurants fill quickly.

What is there to do in Hamamatsu besides eat eel? Ride the Lake Hamana ropeway (Japan’s only lake-crossing cable car), visit Hamamatsu Castle, the free JASDF Air Park, and inland the Ii-clan garden temple of Ryotanji, the authentic wooden keep of Kakegawa Castle, and the Fujinokuni Tea Museum at Shimada. Note the Museum of Musical Instruments is closed for renovation until around July 2026.

How do I get to Hamamatsu? Hamamatsu is a Hikari shinkansen stop, about 90 minutes from Tokyo or 30 minutes from Nagoya. A rental car is the easiest way to reach Lake Hamana and the inland castles and tea country.

Can I visit the “dream suspension bridge” at Sumata Gorge from Hamamatsu? Yes, but plan ahead. Yumeno Tsuribashi is up the Oigawa valley, a long drive inland. The heritage Oigawa Railway that usually serves the gorge is only partly running in 2026, with a stretch replaced by buses, so a car and a check of current timetables are the reliable approach.

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