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Squeezed between Tokyo and Yokohama along the south bank of the Tama River, Kawasaki is a long, narrow city of about 1.5 million people that runs from the factory-lined shore of Tokyo Bay up into the green Tama Hills. Its two faces are what make it interesting: a heavy-industry waterfront that glows like a science-fiction set after dark, and quiet hillside parks hiding some of the best small museums in the Tokyo region.
For centuries the area was known for Kawasaki Daishi, a temple that still draws enormous crowds every New Year, and for the Kawasaki post town on the old Tokaido road. From the late 19th century the reclaimed coast became part of the Keihin Industrial Zone, and workers from across Japan and Korea settled here, leaving traces such as the yakiniku restaurants of Cement Street.
Today the area around Kawasaki Station mixes shopping, a major concert hall and a science museum, while the Ikuta Ryokuchi and Noborito areas offer folk houses, Taro Okamoto's art and the Doraemon museum. Central Tokyo and Yokohama are each well under half an hour away by train.
Founded in 1128, this Shingon Buddhist temple is known across Japan for yakuyoke prayers that ward off bad luck, and it draws some of the country's biggest New Year crowds. Look for the octagonal five-storey pagoda beside the great main hall. Weekday mornings are the calmest.
A large hilly park in Tama Ward that keeps a slice of the Tama Hills woodland, with trails, ponds, a seasonal rose garden and a science museum with a planetarium. Two of the city's best museums sit inside it, so art, history and nature fit easily into one unhurried day.
The Kawasaki Port Promotion Building in Chidori-cho has an observation deck high above the docks, looking over container cranes, factories and Tokyo Bay toward Haneda Airport. On clear days the Tokyo skyline appears, and after dark it is a calm spot for the industrial night view.
After dark the refineries, chemical plants and pipe-covered towers of the Keihin Industrial Zone light up like a science-fiction set. Guided night cruises and bus tours run from Kawasaki and Yokohama, while photographers favour the canals around Chidori-cho. Bring a tripod and a warm layer.
Opened in 2011 near Noborito, this museum honours the Kawasaki resident who created Doraemon and Perman. Original hand-drawn pages show how his stories were built frame by frame, and the rooftop garden has life-size characters. Entry is by advance tickets for set times, so book ahead.
Known as Nihon Minka-en, this hillside museum in Ikuta Ryokuchi Park gathers around 25 traditional houses moved from across eastern Japan, including steep thatched gassho farmhouses. Step inside to see sunken irori hearths and old tools, and allow about two hours for the woodland loop.
The artist behind Osaka's Tower of the Sun was born in Kawasaki, and much of his work came to this museum in the forest of Ikuta Ryokuchi Park. Expect wildly colourful paintings, ceramics and bronze sculpture in his explosive, playful style, along with changing exhibitions through the year.
Right beside Kawasaki Station, the electronics maker Toshiba tells its story in a hands-on science museum. Displays run from early Japanese household appliances and historic electrical inventions to energy and data exhibits with live demonstrations. It fits neatly into a gap between trains.
The lane leading to the temple gate is lined with old sweet shops where cooks chop ropes of tontoko-ame candy with a rhythmic clack of their knives. The other local treat is kuzumochi, a chewy fermented-starch cake served with brown sugar syrup and roasted soybean flour. Buy a box for later.
In industrial Kawasaki Ward, the stretch known as Cement Street filled with yakiniku and Korean restaurants opened by Korean residents who worked in the nearby factories. Come hungry in the evening for grilled beef and offal, homemade kimchi and soups in smoky, crowded, no-frills dining rooms.
East of Kawasaki Station, this shopping and entertainment complex is built to look like a colourful Italian hill town, with arcades, piazzas and terracotta-toned walls. Inside are restaurants, the Cinecitta cinema and the Club Citta live venue. It is at its liveliest on weekend evenings.
Opened in 2004 beside the west exit of Kawasaki Station, this hall seats about 2,000 people in vineyard-style terraces that wrap around the stage, and it is praised for warm, clear acoustics. It is home to the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Check the schedule and arrive early to see the spiral foyer.
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