The area now comprising Hamamatsu has been settled since prehistoric times, with numerous remains from the Jomon period and Kofun period having been discovered within the present city limits, including the Shijimizuka site shell mound and the Akamonue Kofun ancient tomb. In the Nara period, it became the capital of T?t?mi Province. During the Sengoku period, Hamamatsu Castle was the home of future Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Hamamatsu flourished during the Edo period under a succession of daimyo rulers as a castle town, and as a post town on the T?kaid?. After the Meiji Restoration, Hamamatsu became a short-lived prefecture from 1871�1876, after which it was united with Shizuoka Prefecture. The T?kaid? Main Line railway opened Hamamatsu Station in 1889. The same year, in a cadastal reform of Japan, Hamamatsu became a town.
� July 1, 1911 - Hamamatsu is upgraded from a town to a city.
� 1918 - Rice Riots of 1918 affect Hamamatsu
� 1921 - The village of Tenjinch? merges with Hamamatsu
� 1926 - Imperial Japanese Army Hamamatsu Air Base opens
� 1933 - Imperial Japanese Army Flight School opens.
� 1936 - The villages of Hikuma and Fujizuka merge with Hamamatsu
� December 7, 1944 - Tonankai Earthquake causes much damage
� June 1945 - Hamamatsu largely destroyed by US air raids
� 1948 - Hamamatsu Incident, ethnic rioting Zainichi Korean residents.
� 1951 - The villages of Aratsu, Goto, Kawarin merge with Hamamatsu
� 1954 - Eight villages in Hamana District merge with Hamamatsu
� 1955 - The village of Miyakoda merges with Hamamatsu
� 1957 - The village of Irino merges with Hamamatsu
� 1960 - The village of Seto merges with
