Kawasaki is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture. The city was founded on July 1,1924. The city's population is almost 1.5 million. Kawasaki is located at the mouth of the Tama River. It is sandwiched between Japan's two largest cities, Tokyo and Yokohama, and connects these two cities to form the world's largest urban conurbation. Kawasaki has been an important trading town since the time of the Tokugawa Shoguns, being a stopover on the Tokaido road between Tokyo and Kyoto. With a population of over 1.3 million, Kawasaki is the ninth most populous city in Japan, but it is sandwiched between the two largest cities in Japan, Tokyo and Yokohama, and is therefore ignored by the vast majority of tourists going from one to the other. There are, however, attractions that make Kawasaki a unique excursion, including a Buddhist temple that ranks as one of the three most visited temples in Japan on New Year's Eve, a shint? fertility sanctuary that houses one of Japan's most outrageous festivals and an underestimated open-air museum. Geographically, Kawasaki lies in the middle of the Keihin region, separated from the metropolis of Tokyo by the Tama River, which it follows approximately and is divided into seven districts. The eastern part of Kawasaki along Tokyo Bay contains blue-collar industrial and housing areas while the higher end of the range buildings can be found in the Tama Hills further west and inland. The name of the city is not related to the Japanese industrial enterprise of the same name.

What to see in Kawasaki:

Heiken-ji (Kawasaki Daishi)

The Heiken-ji, better known by the popular name of Kawasaki Daishi, is located 3km southeast of the centre of Kawasaki. Founded in 1128, it is the headquarters of the Chisan sect of the Shingon Buddhist school. Kawasaki Daishi is a popular temple for hatsum? de (the first visit to the Shint? sanctuary or the Japanese New Year's Buddhist temple). Every year nearly 3 million people come here for hatsum? de, it is the third largest attendance in Japan. Keihin Electric Express Railway, the oldest railway company in the Kant? region, began connecting Kawasaki Daishi to Tokyo in January 1899.

Kanamari Matsuri (in April)

You will have the joy of attending Kanamara Matsuri, also called the Feast of Iron Penis (it is not invented these things) which is a feast of fertility celebrated every year in April. Mikoshi (small mobile temples) are walked during a procession. On these temples are placed a wooden penis, a black iron one and a giant pink penis, baptized with the sweet name Elizabeth. This year, the festival will take place on April 7th. In 2010, a report on the subject was broadcast on television and is available from the INA website.

Nihon Minka-en Park

The Nihon Minka-en is a park located in the district of Ikuta Ryokuchie the city of Kawasaki, about 20 km northwest of the city centre. It is located in a vast wooded area, the Ikuta Park. The park features a set of 22 minka traditional farms from different parts of Japan, in particular houses with thatched roofs of eastern Japan. Nine of them are designated as "important cultural property". The park also includes some specialized buildings, mill, granary, granary, ferry house and stone statues. The park opened in 1967, and all the houses are authentic constructions, moved here.
The houses are varied and include examples of areas with heavy snowfall, accommodation for travellers and a theatre stage. Visitors can see the variety and regional differences in construction. The minka (literally "people's house") are traditional Japanese type residences. In the hierarchical system of the Edo period, minka were the homes of peasants, craftsmen and merchants, although today all traditional dwellings are called this way. There are different kinds of minka depending on their geographical location and the wealth of their owners, but they can nevertheless be divided into two categories: n? ka (literally "farms") and machiya (literally "village houses").

Descending an escalator like no other escalator

And yes, if you go to Kawazaki, you can take the smallest escalator in the world. Consisting of 7 steps, this mini escalator even appears in the Guiness Book of Records. All sorts of explanations are proposed to understand the origin of such an unusual (and probably useless) escalator. One might think at first of all of the desire to make life easier for older people (Japan is the country with the most centenarians in the world) or for people with disabilities. It is located between other staircases and is therefore not useful for people with reduced mobility. Other people simply see it as a budget problem or an error in the construction plans, two alternatives that could be more logical. To get as close as possible to this marvel of niponne technology, you can follow the instructions given in this video.

A more traditional visit

In a less unusual register, we can also mention the visit of the Kawasaki Daishi temple (also called Heiken-ji), one of the largest temples in the Kanto region, a temple in Japanese culture known for its cancellations of all the calamities where one comes to pray for its safety and well-being. It is also a temple where one comes to practice the hatsum? de (the first visit to a temple at the beginning of the year). Many Japanese came to Japan for this occasion.
The city conceals other secrets rather off the beaten track, such as industrial activities (several visits to factories are possible) or traditional Japanese peasant life. You will find more information to explore this city on the website of their tourist office.