As of October 1, 2017[update], the city has an estimated population of 1,503,690, with 716,470 households,[1] and a population density 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 142.70 km2 (55.10 sq mi).
History
Prehistoric and ancient era
Archaeological evidence from the Japanese Paleolithic and Jōmon period can only be found in the northwest Tama Hills. 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 legal system, the area came to the Musashi Province in the 7th century. In the Nara period, the center of the Tachibana district was probably in the area of today's Takatsu district. Since the Heian period, the domain of the Inage clan has expanded here. Around the Heiken-ji 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 and Sengoku period, smaller feudal lords ruled the area until it finally came under the control of the Later Hōjō clan.
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 roadsTōkaidō and Nakaharakaidō built by Edo-Bakufu, 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.
Gallery
Old building in the "Kura-zukuri" style on Oyama Kaido street
Rokugō no Watashi in the 1860s photographed by Felice Beato
Ferry Boat Crossing the Rokugo River
Modern
The rapid urbanization of the area, which continues to this day, began in the Meiji and Taishō eras. In 1872, Kawasaki Station was established on the Tōkaidō Main Line which was Japan's first railway line.[2] 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 and Tokyo prefectures was established as the Tama 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.[3]
People from the Korean peninsula were made to work in the industrial sector in the city,[4] working on railways construction, or rebuilding roads damaged by U.S. bombings towards the end of WWII.[5] People from Okinawa were also coming to the city, and in 1924, the oldest Okinawans Association in Japan was founded in Kawasaki.[6][7]
World War II
As part of World War II, the city was bombed three times by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) between April 1945 and July 1945. The most serious attack was an area bombing with Napalm 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).[citation needed] Kawasaki became a target of the first mainland bombing by the US military in 1942, followed by multiple bombings, partly due to the city's heavy and chemical industrial complex supplying the war efforts in Asia and the Pacific.[8]
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[3] 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, industrial areas have recently been increasingly converted into residential areas (mostly Multi-family residential), so that a further increase in population density can be expected.
Geography
The Kawasaki port connects seamlessly with the neighboring ports Yokohama in the southwest and Tokyo in the northeast (2007).Downtown Kawasaki
Kawasaki is located on the right bank of the Tama River, which flows into the Tokyo Bay here. The city lies like a narrow band between Tokyo in the northeast and Yokohama in the southwest. The city connects the two major cities and is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, the largest and most densely populated urban areas in the world.
The eastern area along the coast of Tokyo Bay is a densely populated industrial zone, part of the Keihin Industrial Zone. In contrast, the western districts in the Tama Hills consist largely of residential areas for commuters in the Tokyo / Yokohama region.
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 (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.
Demographics
Per Japanese census data,[10] the population of Kawasaki has seen sustained growth over the past 70 years.
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
1940
300,777
—
1945
252,923
−15.9%
1950
319,226
+26.2%
1960
445,520
+39.6%
1965
632,975
+42.1%
1970
854,866
+35.1%
1975
973,497
+13.9%
1980
1,014,951
+4.3%
1985
1,088,624
+7.3%
1990
1,173,603
+7.8%
1995
1,202,820
+2.5%
2000
1,249,905
+3.9%
2005
1,327,011
+6.2%
2010
1,425,678
+7.4%
2015
1,475,213
+3.5%
2020
1,538,262
+4.3%
Politics and government
Kawasaki is governed by Mayor Norihiko Fukuda, an independent elected on 27 October 2013.[11] 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 JCP-supported former primary school teacher Hirokazu Ichiko.[12][13]
The 60-member city parliament of Kawasaki was re-elected in the unified elections in April 2023. The LDP won 17 seats and is the largest party in the assembly.[14]
Kawasaki was in June 2008 the second Japanese "government-designated city" (seirei shitei toshi) after Hiroshima, which allowed foreigners to participate in municipal referendums.[15]
In the 105-member prefectural parliament of Kanagawa, the seven districts of Kawasaki serve as constituencies, electing 18 deputies in total.[16][17]
For the House of Representatives (Japan), Kawasaki comprises the constituencies Kanagawa 9 (Tama and Asao wards), 10 (Kawasaki and Saiwai wards) and 18 (Nakahara and Takatsu wards) and 19 (Miyamae ward, with Tsuzuki ward, Yokohama), following changes since the last general election in 2021.[18] In the 2021 election, the three seats went unchanged to Liberal Democrats Kazunori Tanaka and Daishirō Yamagiwa, and ex-Democrat Hirofumi Ryū of the Constitutional Democratic Party.[19]
Kawasaki Todoroki Baseball Stadium: Located in Nakahara-ku. Maximum capacity of 5,000 people. Used for preliminary rounds of high school baseball and American football games.
Field athletics & football
Todoroki Athletics Stadium: 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. Also used frequently for track & field competitions.
Indoor facilities
Kawasaki Prefectural Gymnasium: Located in Kawasaki-ku. Opened in 1956, and is used for Puroresu matches. 20 minutes walking distance from Kawasaki Station's east entrance.
Koreatown: eastern Kawasaki has the second largest concentration of Koreans in Japan, after Osaka.[citation needed] In 1997 it became the first municipality to allow non-Japanese nationals to take civil service employment.
Developed national road 466 to Tokyo and Yokohama in Miyamae-kuTokyo Bay Aqua-Line is an expressway across Tokyo Bay.
Expressway
Tōmei Expressway is a north-south expressway running from Tokyo to Nagoya and in central area. Tōmei-Kawasaki Interchange is served from Kawasaki.
Daisan Keihin Road is a north-south expressway running from Tokyo to Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 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.
Shuto Expressway Route K6 (Kawasaki Route) is an expressway in southern area. Daishi Interchange, Tonomachi Interchange, and Ukishima Interchange are served from Kawasaki.
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 north-south highways running in central area. It also runs short length in Kawasaki.
Japan National Route 132 is short highway running in southern area. It bounds National Route 15 and port of kawasaki.
Japan National Route 357 is an industrial highway in southern area. It runs only in Higashi-Ōgishima Island in Kawasaki.
^ ab"Population News of Major Cities". Statistical Information Division, Policy Bureau, City of Yokohama. September 1, 2015. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
