How Hamamatsu Is Building Tomorrow Through Innovation and Multiculturalism

Hamamatsu, a coastal city in western Shizuoka Prefecture, is best known for music, motorcycles, and manufacturing. From the founding of Yamaha and Suzuki to its enduring network of small factories, it has long been a place where craftsmanship meets innovation.

On a recent media tour organized by the city, journalists were given a chance to see how Hamamatsu's legacy industries and cutting-edge startups are driving change, with multicultural policies emerging as part of this push to shape the city's future.

From Fusion Dreams to Factory Floors

The first stop was EX-Fusion, a Hamamatsu-based startup born from Osaka University research and now working to make nuclear fusion a commercial reality. Kazuhiro Agatsuma, Head of the Research Center's Technical Development Department, laid out the company's bold roadmap: a demonstration plant by 2029 and a commercial reactor by 2035.

Unlike international megaprojects such as ITER in France, EX-Fusion is betting on a leaner model. Its labs are compact, its team agile, and its focus is on software-driven optimization rather than sheer scale.

Agatsuma argued that Hamamatsu is "exactly the right environment." With its manufacturing culture in optics and precision machinery, the city offers a base of know-how perfectly suited to the challenges of laser fusion.

In 2024, the firm established an R&D base in the city's HI-Cube facility. To date, it has raised about ¥5.6 billion JPY ($36.96 million USD) from domestic investors and is courting overseas capital.

"We want to show that Japan can lead the way in next-generation energy," Executive PR Officer Shoko Oda said. "Our mission is not only technical but also social, to ensure energy security in an era of global uncertainty."

Small Factory, Big Impact

From the futuristic world of fusion, the tour moved to the factory floor of Kunimoto Industry, a family-run company with just seventy employees. Despite its modest size, Kunimoto is a direct supplier to Toyota, Japan's largest automaker.

Inside the factory, the group watched rows of automated press machines and robotic arms at work, bending and shaping pipes into components destined for vehicles worldwide. Kunimoto has earned its place in Toyota's supply chain by producing parts that are both lighter and stronger, a critical advantage as automakers strive for efficiency and range in electric vehicles.

President Kenji Kunimoto explained that much of their success comes from their N-MICS, New Management Innovation Control System. It uses digital monitoring and AI to cut costs and improve accuracy. With labor shortages intensifying, automation has become essential.

Coping with Depopulation

When asked about the broader demographic challenge facing Japanese industry, Kunimoto offered a surprisingly calm perspective. "Many people worry about depopulation, but I'm not so concerned," he said. "If you look at our production lines, robots are doing much of the work already. With smart systems like N-MICS, we can cope with fewer people while still improving quality."

For a visitor, the contrast was striking: a factory small enough to feel intimate, but sophisticated enough to compete with the biggest players. Kunimoto stressed that the key was not just technology, but also trust. "We're a small company, but Toyota values what we do," he said. "That relationship gives us confidence."

Hamamatsu's Multicultural Coexistence

At Hamamatsu City Hall, officials presented the city's demographics and the rationale behind its long-running multicultural coexistence policy. Out of roughly 780,000 residents, about 30,000 (3.8%) are foreign residents, with South America, and Brazil in particular, the largest share. Large communities from Vietnam, the Philippines, China, Indonesia, Korea, and India round out the picture.

The city began building frameworks for this reality more than 30 years ago, after the 1990 immigration law revision accelerated inflows.

Today's plan, the Third Multicultural Coexistence City Vision (2023–2028), organizes programs around three pillars (collaboration, creativity, security) and runs through a concrete set of partnerships. These include consulates, police, Hello Work, the education board, and councils that include representatives of foreign residents.

Officials described programs ranging from Japanese language classes designed for daily life, such as how to ride a bus, sort garbage, or visit a doctor, to multilingual consultation services at city offices.

The emphasis, they said, was practical coexistence. "Our goal is to make sure residents, Japanese and foreign alike, can live comfortably side by side," explained one official.

Challenge and Opportunity

During a Q&A session, Mayor Yusuke Nakano addressed both the challenges and opportunities of this approach. He acknowledged that language barriers and employment stability remain issues, but argued that diversity is a strength. "Hamamatsu has always been open to new ideas and industries," he said. "Welcoming people from different backgrounds is part of that same tradition."

The mayor also noted the connection between Hamamatsu's industrial base and its multicultural reality. Factories depend on skilled labor, some of it foreign. Schools and communities adapt accordingly. "Industry and society cannot be separated," Suzuki said. "Our policies must support both."

Author: Daniel Manning