Hamamatsu

Population
When Hamamatsu became a municipality in 1911 it had only 36,782 people. It continued to grow as it merged with surrounding villages and towns and as more people continued to move into and were born into the city. The population exceeded 100,000 in 1928, just 17 years after municipalization.
Although the population dropped to 81,437 in 1945 due to World War II, it quickly regained its momentum, reaching 200,000 in 1954 and 300,000 in 1957.
In 1982 Hamamatsu became a city with half a million people. It is rare for a city that is neither a prefectural capital nor a satellite city near a metropolitan area to have such a large population.
On July 1st 2005 Hamamatsu's population reached over 800,000 when it amalgamated with 11 surrounding cities, towns and villages in the Tenryu River and Lake Hamana regions, becoming the largest city in Shizuoka Prefecture. The number of residents holding Alien Registration cards has also been increasing year by year; currently there are approximately 29,000 foreign residents in Hamamatsu, accounting for 3.5% of the population. Hamamatsu may also boast that it has the largest number of Brazilian residents in the country; they make up about 60% (16,000) of the city's foreign population.