Kawasaki

Kawasaki (川崎) is a city in Japan. It is located within the Kanagawa Prefecture and inside the Kanto Region. This city is part of the Greater Tokyo area. The city is only 50 kilometers away from the Narita International Airport which is the gateway to Japan.

This city is easily accessed from many of the world’s major cities. The city is in between Tokyo and Yokohama. The population of the city is 1.3 million which makes it the ninth most-population city in Japan. The total land mass of the Kawasaki area is 144 square kilometers. The city flower is the Azalea.

The port of Kawasaki is a major location for domestic and foreign trade. There is a large variety of land and air transportations that provide the city with great access to Japan and abroad. The Kawasaki coastal area plays an important role in the Tokyo bay area with industries such as steel, petrochemistry, cement, and many different types of food. The industrial shipments value around 3500 billion yen a year in 2002.

There are companies such as NEC and Toshiba located within the city as well. There is a number of research and development industries as well as residential areas as well. The economy works mainly on domestic and foreign trade. Tertiary markets such as farming have always been at allow while factories have declined over the past 20 years steadily.

History

The city was founded on July 1, 1924. Throughout the century this city has been an industrial city. Industrial used to be very important in this area, but has steadily deceased within the past 20 years or so. Taking over its importance is foreign and domestic trade.

In 1853 and 1854 Commodore Mathew Perry landed in this area and signed the Convention of Kanagawa which forced open this are to the United States. As trade with foreign nations became more acceptable the market grew.

In 1923 the Great Kanto earthquake caused much damage in this area. There were other unnatural disasters such as the U.S. bombing in 1945 that destroyed this area.

Points of Interest

• Yumemigasaki Zoo is on a small hill surrounded greens where wild birds can be seen such as the Chloris Sinica and the Great-Tit. There are over 59 types of animals and over 300 animals raised and exhibited in this zoo. There are animals featured such as the Panda, Ring tailed Lemur, Mountain Zebra, Siberian Elk, Penguins, Flamingos and Giant Tortoises. Amazingly enough, the admission is free. This area can easily be reached by the bus.
• Daishi Park is next to Kawasaki-Daishi Heigen-ji Temple and has a baseball park, tennis court, a pool, grass areas and many other natural areas. There is a popular Chinese garden called Shinshu-En which was gifted by Shenyang City in 1987 celebrating a friend anniversary. Shinshu-En is short for Shenyang which means beautiful. This area is easily reached by bus or train. The admission for this area is also free.

External Links

• Kawasaki Official Website (English)
• Kawasaki Official Website (Japanese)