is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

, Japan, one of the main cities of

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the ...

and

Keihin Industrial Area The consists of the Japan, Japanese Cities of Japan, cities Tokyo, Kawasaki City, Kawasaki, and Yokohama. The term is mostly used to describe these cities as Megalopolis (city type), one industrial region. ''Keihin'' is Japanese abbreviation, der ...

. It is the second most populated city in

after

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, and the eighth most populated city in Japan (including the Tokyo Metropolitan Area). , the city has an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 1,503,690, with 716,470

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 10,000 persons per km². Kawasaki is the only city in Japan with more than one million inhabitants that is not a prefectural capital. The total area is .

History

Prehistoric and Ancient era

Archaeological evidence from the Japanese

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

and

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

can only be found in the northwest

Tama Hills is an area of hills stretching across southwest Tokyo and northeast Kanagawa Prefecture in the Kantō Plain on Honshū, Japan. Its total area is approximately 300 km2. The Tama River marks its northeastern boundary. The Tama Hills border the ...

. The course of the Tama and the coast of the Bay of Tokyo have also changed in historical times, so that large parts of the urban area are geologically young.

Classical era

Nara period to the Sengoku period

With the introduction of the

Ritsuryō , , is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (律令制). ''Kyaku'' (格) are amendments of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki'' (� ...

legal system, the area came to the

Musashi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, S ...

in the 7th century. In the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

, the center of the Tachibana district was probably in the area of today's Takatsu district. Since the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

, the domain of the Inage clan has expanded here. Around the

Heiken-ji is the popular name of , a Buddhist temple in Kawasaki, Japan. Founded in 1128, it is the headquarters of the Chizan sect of Shingon Buddhism. Kawasaki Daishi is a popular temple for ''hatsumōde'' (the first visit to a place of worship in t ...

Buddhist temple (better known as Kawasaki-Daishi), founded in 1128, a monzen-machi, a busy district for the supply of pilgrims, soon emerged. Between the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

and

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, smaller feudal lords ruled the area until it finally came under the control of the

Later Hōjō clan The was one of the most powerful samurai families in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region. Their last name was simply Hōjō (北条) but in order to differentiate between the earlier Hōjō clan with the ...

Early Modern

In 1611, Koizumi Jidayū had Nikaryō Yōsui built, a canal system on the right bank of the Tama for irrigating the fields, which in some cases still runs through the densely built-up city. On the long-distance Kaidō roads Tōkaidō and Nakaharakaidō built by

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

Bakufu , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

, stations were built in the area of what would later become Kawasaki, which increased its importance. The Kawasaki station (Kawasaki-juku, near today's Kawasaki station) on the Tōkaidō was not officially recognized until 1623 as the last of the 53 Tōkaidō stations. The Bakufu let the bridges over the Tama collapse and there were ferry connections to nearby Edo in several places in today's Kawasaki, which laid the foundation for the development of the city. File:Oyamakaido_06z1101s.jpg, Ancient building called "Kura-zukuri" on the Oyama Kaido street File:Rokugō_no_Watashi_in_the_1860%27s_photographed_by_Felice_Beato.jpg, Rokugō no Watashi in the 1860s photographed by

Felice Beato Felice Beato (1832 – 29 January 1909), also known as Felix Beato, was an Italian–British photographer. He was one of the first people to take photographs in East Asia and one of the first war photographers. He is noted for his genre works, ...

File:東海道五十三次之内_川崎_六郷渡舟-Ferry_Boat_Crossing_the_Rokugo_River_MET_DP122176.jpg, Ferry Boat Crossing the Rokugo River

Modern

The rapid

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

of the area, which continues to this day, began in the Meiji and Taishō eras. In 1872,

Kawasaki Station Kawasaki station may refer to: *Kawasaki-juku ( ja, 川崎宿, Kawasaki-shuku, Kawasaki lodging), a Tōkaidō waystation in Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan *Kawasaki Station ( ja, 川崎駅, Kawasaki-eki, Kawasaki Station, a train station of ...

was established on the

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

which was Japan's first railway line. In 1889, the city (machi) Kawasaki in the district (gun) Tachibana was created according to the Japanese municipal system introduced the year before. In 1912 the border between

Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

prefectures was established as the

Tama River The is a major river in Yamanashi, Kanagawa and Tokyo Prefectures on Honshū, Japan. It is officially classified as a Class 1 river by the Japanese government. Its total length is , and the total of the river's basin area spans . The river ...

. On July 1, 1924, the independent city (shi-) of Kawasaki with 48,394 inhabitants was formed through a merger with the city of Daishi (formerly Daishigawara) and the village of Miyuki.Stadt Kawasaki
Profil, 8. HISTORY einfach (Zeittafel zur Stadtgeschichte)
/ref>

World War II

As part of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the city was bombed three times by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF) between April 1945 and July 1945. The most serious attack was an area bombing with

Napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated al ...

bombs on April 15, 1945. The attacks destroyed around 35% of the urban area and claimed 1,520 dead and 8,759 injured. The attacks burned down 9.3 km² of the city (see

Bombing of Tokyo The was a series of firebombing air raids by the United States Army Air Force during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. Operation Meetinghouse, which was conducted on the night of 9–10 March 1945, is the single most destructive bombing ...

Contemporary period

Shōwa era (1945–1989)

On April 15, 1945, large parts of the area around the train station and the industrial area at the port were destroyed by air raids. Since the 1950s, residential areas for commuters have been created in the northeastern part of the city, which are connected directly to the centers of Tokyo by new railway lines. On April 1, 1972, Kawasaki became a decree-designated city ( seirei shitei toshi) with 5 districts. 1973 the population exceeded the million mark. In 1982 the new districts of Miyamae and Asao were created by splitting off from the districts of Takatsu and Tama. In the course of

deindustrialization Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry. There are different interpre ...

, industrial areas have recently been increasingly converted into residential areas (mostly

Multi-family residential Multifamily residential (also known as multidwelling unit or MDU) is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex. Units ca ...

), so that a further increase in population density can be expected.

Geography

Climate

Location

Kawasaki is located on the right bank of the

, which flows into the Tokyo Bay here. The city lies like a narrow band between

in the northeast and

in the southwest. The city connects the two major cities and is part of the

, the largest and most densely populated urban areas in the world. The eastern area along the coast of

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...

is a densely populated industrial zone, part of the

Keihin Industrial Zone The consists of the Japanese cities Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Yokohama. The term is mostly used to describe these cities as one industrial region. ''Keihin'' is derived from the second character of Tōkyō, , which can be read ''kyō'' or ''kei'', ...

. In contrast, the western districts in the

consist largely of residential areas for commuters in the

/ Yokohama region.

Wards

Kawasaki has seven

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

(''ku''):

Adjacent cities and towns

In the northeast, Kawasaki borders the

Special wards of Tokyo are a special form of municipalities in Japan under the 1947 Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy largely comparable to other forms of municipalities. Although the autono ...

(starting at Tokyo Bay) Ōta and

Setagaya is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood and administrative district within the ward. The ward calls itself Setagaya City in English. Its official bird is the azure-winged magpie, its flower is the fringed orch ...

, in the northwest the cities (-shi) belonging to

Tokyo Prefecture Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

(-shi)

Komae is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It is one of 30 municipalities in the western portion of Tokyo known as the Tama Area. , the city had an estimated population of 83,218, and a population density of 13,000 per ...

, Chofu, Machida,

Inagi file:Inagi City Hall.jpg, 270px, Inagi City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 92,585 in 41,592 households, and a population density of 5200 persons ...

, Tama enclose the place. The opposite southwest side is entirely occupied by the districts of Tsurumi, Kōhoku, Tsuzuki and Aoba in the city of Yokohama. With the completion of the

Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line The , also known as the Trans-Tokyo Bay Expressway, is an expressway that is mainly made up of a bridge–tunnel combination across Tokyo Bay in Japan. It connects the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture with the city of Kisarazu in Chiba P ...

, the city of

Kisarazu is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 136,023 in 63,431 households and a population density of 980 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Kisarazu is located in the midwest ...

, located on the opposite side of the Tokyo Bay in

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

, also became a neighbor in December 1997.

Water

Two rivers cross the urban area. The Tama unites with the tributaries Misawa, Yamashita, Gotanda, Nikaryō main river and Hirase; Katahira, Asao, Shimpukuji, Arima, E, Shibu and Yagami flow into the Tsurumi. The land on the coast of the city is crossed by a network of

canals Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or river engineering, engineered channel (geography), channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport watercraft, vehicles (e.g. ...

(Tama Canal, Suehiro Canal, Chidori Canal, Yakō Canal, Daishi Canal, Mizue Canal, Shiohama Canal, Iriesaki Canal, Asano Canal, Ikegami Canal, Minami-Watarida Canal, Tanabe Canal, Shiraishi Canal and the Sakai Canal). In addition, the historic Nikaryō Yōsui canal still exists in the hinterland.

Historical population

Politics and government

Kawasaki is governed by Mayor Norihiko Fukuda, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

elected on 27 October 2013. The city assembly has 63 elected members. Mayor Fukuda was re-elected to a second term in office on 22 October 2017 with support from LDP and Kōmeitō against former municipal MP Akiko Yoshizawa and KPJ-supported former primary school teacher Hirokazu Ichiko. The 60-member city parliament of Kawasaki was re-elected in the unified elections in April 2019. The LDP remained the strongest with 19 seats. Kawasaki was in June 2008 the second Japanese "government-designated city" (seirei shitei toshi) after

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

, which allowed foreigners to participate in municipal referendums. In the 105-member prefectural parliament of Kanagawa, the districts of Kawasaki used as constituencies together choose 18 deputies. For the

House of Representatives (Japan) The is the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors is the upper house. The composition of the House is established by and of the Constitution of Japan. The House of Representatives has 465 members, elected for a ...

, Kawasaki comprises the constituencies Kanagawa 9 (in the west), 10 (in the east) and 18 (in the middle). In the 2017 election, these went unchanged to Liberal Democrats Kazunori Tanaka and Daishirō Yamagiwa and ex-Democrat Hirofumi Ryū for the

Kibō no Tō was a conservative political party in Japan founded by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. The party was founded just before the call of the 2017 general election. The party's ideology was mainly Japanese conservatism and nationalism. Kibō no Tō ...

(Party of Hope, later to the Mirai Nippon faction).

Elections

* 2005 Kawasaki mayoral election

List of mayors of Kawasaki (from 1924)

Sports

Facilities

Baseball

Kawasaki Stadium is a stadium in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. The stadium was opened in 1952 and had a capacity of 30,000 people, but was demolished and rebuilt in 2003 as an American football venue and is now the home of the Fujitsu Frontiers of the X-League. ...

: Located in Kawasaki-ku. Opened in 1952, and was used as a home field for

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

teams (see below) from 1954 to 1991. The stands were taken down in 2001, and is currently used for

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

games and other events in addition to baseball. * Kawasaki Todoroki Baseball Stadium: Located in Nakahara-ku. Maximum capacity of 5,000 people. Used for preliminary rounds of

high school baseball High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

and American football games.

Field athletics & football

Todoroki Athletics Stadium The , or officially Todoroki Athletics Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Todoroki Ryokuchi in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Kawasaki Frontale. Until ...

: Located in Nakahara-ku. Maximum capacity of 25,000 people. Opened in 1964, the stadium underwent several renovations before becoming the home field for the

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, in Nakahara W ...

. Also used frequently for track & field competitions.

Indoor facilities

* Kawasaki Prefectural Gymnasium: Located in Kawasaki-ku. Opened in 1956, and is used for

Puroresu is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of , which is shortened to puroresu. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's act ...

matches. 20 minutes walking distance from Kawasaki Station's east entrance. * Kawasaki Todoroki Arena: Located in Nakahara-ku. International field athletics and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

matches are held here, in addition to various musical concerts, and becoming the home for the

Kawasaki Brave Thunders The Kawasaki Brave Thunders are a Japanese professional basketball team located in Kanagawa, Japan. The team currently competes in the B.League. The team was the 2016 Champion of the now dissolved Japanese National Basketball League.

Cycling & horseracing

* Velodrome: Kawasaki Velodrome * Kawasaki Keiba

Economy

Fujitsu is a Japanese multinational information and communications technology equipment and services corporation, established in 1935 and headquartered in Tokyo. Fujitsu is the world's sixth-largest IT services provider by annual revenue, and the la ...

's Main Branch is located in Nakahara-ku. It was formerly Fujitsu's headquarters. Kawasaki has several factories and development bases of the companies of heavy industry (e.g.,

JFE Group is a corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It was formed in 2002 by the merger of and and owns JFE Steel, JFE Engineering and Japan Marine United. JFE is from Japan, Fe (the chemical element symbol of iron) and Engineering. In 2020, it ...

Nippon Oil Corporation , formerly , or NOC or ''Shin-Nisseki'' (新日石) is a Japanese petroleum company. Its businesses include exploration, importation, and refining of crude oil; the manufacture and sale of petroleum products, including fuels and lubricants; and ...

) and high technology (

NEC Corporation is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

Japan and

Sigma Corporation is a Japanese company, manufacturing cameras, lenses, flashes and other photographic accessories. All Sigma products are produced in the company's own Aizu factory in Bandai, Fukushima, Japan. Although Sigma produces several camera models, ...

Culture and sights

Temples and shrines

Kawasaki Daishi is the popular name of , a Buddhist temple in Kawasaki, Japan. Founded in 1128, it is the headquarters of the Chizan sect of Shingon Buddhism. Kawasaki Daishi is a popular temple for ''hatsumōde'' (the first visit to a place of worship in t ...

(Heiken-ji). A Buddhist temple in the Kawasaki district. It is the second most visited temple in the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

* Mikawari Fudō shrine * Shinkō Temple (Shinkō-ji) in the spring and autumn garden (Shunjū-en) * Kotohira Shrine (Kotohira-jinja) * Takaishi Shrine (Takaishi-jinja) * Jōraku Temple (Jōraku-ji) * Tenshōkō daijin shrine (Tenshōkō daijin) * Kanayama Shrine: Site of the annual

Kanamara Matsuri The Shinto is an annual Japanese festival held each spring at the in Kawasaki, Japan. The exact dates vary: the main festivities fall on the first Sunday in April. The phallus, as the central theme of the event, is reflected in illustrations, c ...

(Festival Of The Steel Phallus).

Museums and galleries

Nihon Minka-en is a park in the of Tama-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. On display in the park is a collection of 20 traditional ' (farm houses) from various parts of Japan, especially thatched-roofed houses from eastern Japan. Of these, nine ha ...

Open Air Museum (Tama District): with ''

minka are vernacular houses constructed in any one of several traditional Japanese building styles. In the context of the four divisions of society, were the dwellings of farmers, artisans, and merchants (i.e., the three non-samurai castes). This c ...

'' traditional farmhouses from different regions of Japan. * Railway and bus museum * Toshiba Museum * Kawasaki City Museum * Taro Okamoto Museum of Art *

Fujiko F. Fujio was a manga writing duo formed by Japanese manga artists and . They formed their partnership in 1951, and used the Fujiko Fujio name from 1954 until dissolution of the partnership in 1987, upon Fujimoto's illness. The pair was best known f ...

Museum: also known as

Doraemon ''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with List of Doraemon chapters, its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ' ...

museum, opened on September 3, 2011, in Tama-ku Ward.

Music

* Myūza Kawasaki Symphonic Hall - home of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra * CLUB CITTA * Yomiuri-Land EAST (Open Air Music Theater)

Recreational facilities

*Kawasaki Racecourse *

Keirin – literally "racing cycle" – is a form of motor-paced cycle racing in which track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan around 1948 for gamblin ...

cycle track Kawasaki *Kawasaki Marien (leisure center) *Yomiuri Land

Parks

*Ikuta green space (Ikuta ryokuchi) * Todoroki Ryokuchi: athletic park *Yumemigasaki Zoo (Yumemigasaki dōbutsu kōen)

Regular events

* Daruma market in Shimo-Asao *Tamagawa fireworks display *Sannō festival at the Inage shrine *Shin-Yuri art festival *Kawasaki Citizens' Festival *Kawasaki fantasy night *Kawasaki Robot Congress *In Unity *

Places of interest

Nakagawa stable Nakagawa stable (中川部屋 ''Nakagawa-beya'') was a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze ''ichimon'' or group of stables. It was founded on January 26, 2017 with nine wrestlers, all of whom were previously members of Kasugayama stabl ...

: stable of professional sumo wrestler * Kawasaki Warehouse: An

amusement arcade An amusement arcade (often referred to as a video arcade, amusements or simply arcade) is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers (such as cl ...

whose aesthetic is inspired by the

Kowloon Walled City Kowloon Walled City was an ungoverned and densely populated ''de jure'' Imperial Chinese enclave within the boundaries of Kowloon City, British Hong Kong. Originally a Chinese military fort, the walled city became an enclave after the New Ter ...

. *

Koreatown A Koreatown (Korean: 코리아타운), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have ...

: eastern Kawasaki has the second largest concentration of

Koreans in Japan comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South ...

, after

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. In 1997 it became the first municipality to allow non-Japanese nationals to take civil service employment.

Transportation

Railway stations

;

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

:* - - : Keihin-Tōhoku Line :* - Kawasaki - :

Nambu Line The Nambu Line ( ja, 南武線,) is a Japanese railway line which connects Tachikawa Station in Tachikawa, Tokyo and Kawasaki Station in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. For most of its length, it parallels the Tama River, the natural border between Tokyo and ...

:* Main Line : Kawasaki - - (Yakō Station is in

Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama is one of the 18 ku (Wards of Japan, wards) of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 270,433 and a population density, density of 8,140 persons per km². The total area is 33.23&nb ...

) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - :* Branch Line : Shitte - - - :

Tsurumi Line The Tsurumi Line ( ja, 鶴見線,) is a group of 3 railway lines operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Originally built to service the port and adjacent industrial area, the lines provide passenger serv ...

:* Main Line : - - Hama-Kawasaki - - :* Ōkawa Branch : - :

Yokosuka Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The Yokosuka Line connects Tokyo Station with in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. Officially, the name Yokosuka Line is assigned to the 23.9 km segment between and ...

, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line :* - Musashi-Kosugi - - ;

Odakyu Electric Railway , commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its ''Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone. The Odakyu Electric Railway Company fo ...

: Odakyū Line :* - - - - - - - : Tama Line :* Shin-Yurigaoka - - - - - ;

Keio Corporation () is a private railway operator in Tokyo, Japan, and the central firm of the that is involved in transport, retail, real estate and other industries. The name is derived from taking one character each from the places through which the railw ...

: Sagamihara Line :* - - - (Keiō-Yomiuri-Land Station and Inagi Station are in

Inagi, Tokyo 270px, Inagi City Hall is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 92,585 in 41,592 households, and a population density of 5200 persons per km². The total area of the city was . ...

.) - ;

Keikyu Corporation (), also known as or, more recently, , is a private railroad that connects inner Tokyo to Kawasaki, Yokohama, Yokosuka and other points on the Miura Peninsula in Kanagawa Prefecture. It also provides rail access to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. mea ...

Keikyū Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by the private railway operator Keikyu. The line connects the Tokyo wards of Minato, Shinagawa, Ōta, and the Kanagawa municipalities of Kawasaki, Yokohama and Yokosuka. The Keikyu Main Line began a ...

:* - Hatchōnawate - - : Daishi Line :* Keikyū Kawasaki - - - - - - ;

Tokyu Corporation The is a Japanese multinational ''keiretsu'' ( conglomerate) holding company headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. Its main operation is , a wholly owned subsidiary operating railways in the Greater Tokyo Area. History The oldest predecessor ...

: Tōyoko Line :* - - Musashi-Kosugi - - :

Meguro Line The is a railway line operated by Japanese private railway company Tokyu Corporation. As a railway line, the name is for the section between and in southwest Tokyo, but nearly all trains run to on a quad-tracked section of the Tōyoko Line ...

:* - Shin-Maruko - Musashi-Kosugi - Motosumiyoshi - : Den-en-toshi Line :* - - - - - - - - : Ōimachi Line :* - Futako-Shinchi - Takatsu - Mizonokuchi

Highways

; Expressway :*

Tōmei Expressway The is a national expressway on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. The expressway is designated as E1 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering", because it parallels Nati ...

is a north-south expressway running from Tokyo to

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

and in central area. Tōmei-Kawasaki Interchange is served from Kawasaki. :*

Daisan Keihin Road is a national highway in Japan connecting Setagaya, Tokyo and Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, with a total length of . List of interchanges and features Daisan Keihin Road A major part of the National Route 466 is known as the , a limited access to ...

is a north-south expressway running from Tokyo to

Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama is one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, Hodogaya Ward had an estimated population of 205,887 and a density of . The total area was . Geography Hodogaya Ward is located in eastern Kanagawa Prefect ...

and in central area. Keihin-Kawasaki Interchange is served from Kawasaki. :* Shuto Expressway Route K1 (Yokohane Route) is a north-south expressway running from Shuto Expressway Route 1 to Shuto Expressway Route K3 (Kariba Route) and in southern area. Daishi Interchange, Hama-Kawasaki Interchange, and Asada Interchange are served from Kawasaki. :*

Bayshore Route The signed as Route B, is one of the routes of the tolled Shuto Expressway system in the Greater Tokyo Area. The Bayshore Route is a stretch of toll highway that runs from the Kanazawa ward of Yokohama in the west, northeast to the city of ...

is a north-south expressway running from

Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama is one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 209,565 and a density of 6,760 persons per km². The total area was . The ward symbol, established 1987, express ...

Ichikawa, Chiba 240px, Ichikawa City Hall is a city in western Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 491,716 in 251,142 households and a population density of 8559 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city has a conc ...

and in southern area. Ukishima Interchange and Higashi-Ōgishima Interchange are served from Kawasaki. :* Shuto Expressway Route K6 (Kawasaki Route) is an expressway in southern area. Daishi Interchange, Tonomachi Interchange, and Ukishima Interchange are served from Kawasaki. :*

is an expressway across Tokyo Bay from

Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki is one of the seven wards of the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the ward had an estimated population of 216,826 and a density of 5,530 persons per km2. The total area was . Kawasaki-ku has the home to the second largest Kore ...

Kisarazu, Chiba is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 136,023 in 63,431 households and a population density of 980 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Kisarazu is located in the midwest ...

. Ukishima Interchange is served from Kawasaki. ; National Route :* National Route 1 and 15 are north-south highways running in southern area. Due to elongated territory from east to west, these highways run short length in Kawasaki. :*

Japan National Route 246 is a major highway on the island of Honshū in Japan. It originates in Chiyoda, Tokyo and terminates in Numazu, Shizuoka. In and near Tokyo, it parallels the routes of the Dai-ichi Keihin, Dai-ni Keihin, and Tōmei Expressways, the Tōkyū Den- ...

is a north-south highways running in central area. It also runs short length in Kawasaki. :*

Japan National Route 132 National Route 132 is a national highway of Japan connecting Port of Kawasaki and Miyamaechō, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki Cabinet Order Designating Routes of General National Highways (Cabinet Order No. 58 of 1965) in Japan, with a total length of 4. ...

is short highway running in southern area. It bounds National Route 15 and port of kawasaki. :*

Japan National Route 357 National Route 357 is a national highway of Japan connecting Chūō-ku, Chiba and Yokosuka, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yoko ...

is an industrial highway in southern area. It runs only in Higashi-Ōgishima Island in Kawasaki. :*

Japan National Route 409 National Route 409 is a national highway of Japan connecting Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki and Narita, Chiba in Japan, with a total length of 119.3 km (74.13 mi). See also * Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line The , also known as the Trans-Tokyo Bay Exp ...

is a highway running from

Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki is one of the 7 Wards of Japan, wards of the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 215,158 and a population density, density of 13,150 persons per km². The total ...

Narita, Chiba is a city in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 131,852 in 63,098 households and a population density of 620 persons per km². The total area of the city is . It is the site of Narita International Airport, one o ...

. It bounds central area and downtown area in Kawasaki.

International relations

Twin cities

Kawasaki is twinned with the following cities in Japan, worldwide, across the world, and on the entire Earth.

Domestic friendship cities

Fujimi, Nagano is a town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 14,485 in 5958 households, and a population density of 102 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Fujimi is located in a very mountain ...

(since April 22, 1993) *

Naha, Okinawa is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area is ...

(since May 20, 1996) *

Nakashibetsu, Hokkaido is a town located in Nemuro Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of March 31, 2008, it has an estimated population of 23,958, and an area of 684.98 km2. Nakashibetsu Airport, the easternmost airport in mainland Japan, is located in the tow ...

(since July 9, 1992)

International

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, United States (since June 14, 1979) *

Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu ) is a province of Vietnam. It is located on the coast of the country's Southeast region. It also includes the Côn Đảo islands, located some distance off Vietnam's southeastern coast. From 1954 to 1975, under South ...

, Vietnam (since September 15, 2012) *

Bucheon Bucheon () is a administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Bucheon is located away from Seoul, of which it is a satellite town, satellite city. It is located between Incheon and Seoul. Bucheon is the second ...

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

, South Korea (since October 21, 1996) *

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

, Germany (since May 12, 1992) *

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, United States (since June 20, 1993) *

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

, Croatia (since June 23, 1977) *

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

, Austria (since April 17, 1992) *

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, United Kingdom (since July 30, 1990) *

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

, China, since (August 18, 1981) *

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia (since May 18, 1988)

Friendship ports

Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

, Vietnam, since January 24, 1994

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Cities in Kanagawa Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan