is a junction passenger

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

located in the city of

Kawasaki, Kanagawa Kawasaki, officially Kawasaki City, is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, one of the main cities of the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area. It is the second most populated city in Kanagawa Prefecture after Yokohama ...

, Japan, operated by

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 in ...

(JR East).

Lines

Kawasaki Station is served by the following JR East lines. The station is from and from .

Station layout

The station has three elevated

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

s serving six tracks, with an elevated station building built into a shopping center. The station has a ''

Midori no Madoguchi , short for ''Magnetic-electronic Automatic'' ''Reservation System,'' is a train ticket reservation system used by the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and travel agencies in Japan. It was developed jointly by Hitachi and the former Ja ...

'' staffed ticket office.

Platforms

File:JR_Kawasaki_Station_Platform_1・2_(20210418).jpg, Platforms 1 and 2 File:JR_Kawasaki_Station_Platform_3・4_(20210418).jpg, Platforms 3 and 4 File:JR_Kawasaki_Station_Platform_5・6.jpg, Platforms 5 and 6 The song "Ue o Muite Arukou" (上を向いて歩こう, ''Ue wo Muite Arukou''), commonly known worldwide as "

Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish that is prepared and served in the '' nabemono'' (Japanese hot pot) style. It consists of meat (usually thinly sliced beef) which is slowly cooked or simmered at the table, alongside vegetables and other ingredients, in ...

" by

Kyu Sakamoto , legally registered as since 1956, was a Japanese singer and actor. He was best known outside Japan for his international hit song "Ue o Muite Arukō" (known as "Sukiyaki (song), Sukiyaki" in English-speaking markets), which was sung in Japane ...

, born in Kawasaki, is used as the

departure melody A train melody is a melody played when a train is arriving at or about to depart from a train station. In Japan, departing train melodies are arranged to invoke a feeling of relief in a train passenger after sitting down and moving with the depar ...

for Platforms 1 and 2.

History

The station opened on 10 July 1872 (June 5 in original Japanese calendar then in use) as the first intermediate station of the first railway in Japan when it was providing a trial service on the section between

Shinagawa Station is a major railway station in the Takanawa and Konan districts of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), and the private railway operator Keikyu. The Tokaido Shinkans ...

and

Sakuragichō Station is an interchange passenger railway station located in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and the Yokohama Municipal Subway. Lines Sakuragichō Station is served by the Negishi Line from to in Kanagawa ...

in Yokohama before the official inauguration in October 1872. The Nambu Railway, which later became the Nambu Line, opened on 9 March 1927.

Kawasaki City Tram was a tram line in the Japanese city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. The 6.7 km line ran from Shiden Kawasaki (in front of Kawasaki Station is a junction passenger railway station located in the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan, ope ...

operated a line from its Shiden Kawasaki terminal in front of this station to the now-closed Shiohama Station from 1944 to 1969.

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2019, the station was used by an average of 215,234 passengers daily (boarding passengers only). The passenger figures (boarding passengers only) for previous years are as shown below.

Surrounding area

Connected to the west side of the station is the

Lazona Kawasaki Plaza is a shopping mall in Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki, Japan. The mall adjoins the west side Kawasaki Station. It is the largest commercial facility in the Mitsui Fudosan affiliate and has the highest sales volume. Structure The design is by Ricardo Bofi ...

shopping mall. Connected to the east of the station is the "Atre Kawasaki" shopping complex. There are also various other commercial establishments around the station, including More-s Department Store,

Yodobashi Camera is a major Japanese retail chain specializing in electronics, PCs, cameras and photographic equipment. Yodobashi Camera's sales rank fourth among consumer electronics mass retailers in Japan, after Yamada Denki, Bic Camera, and K's Holdin ...

, and

Tokyu Hands , known as Hands (formerly Tokyu Hands), is a Japanese department store chain. Hands is now part of Cainz (itself a member of the ). Tokyu Hands opened their first store in Shibuya, Tokyo in 1976 as a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) store, hence the logo ...

Keikyu Kawasaki Station (), 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 ...

, operated by the private railway operator

Keikyu (), 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. ...

is located to the northeast. The basement area of the adjoining More's department store is home to what is dubbed "the world's shortest escalator", with a height difference of just .

References

External links

JR East station information
{{Navboxes, list1= {{Tokaido Line E {{Keihin-Tōhoku Line Negishi Line {{Nambu Line {{Tokyo-Yokohama Railway in 1872 {{Tokyo transit Railway stations in Japan opened in 1872 Tōkaidō Main Line Keihin-Tōhoku Line Nambu Line Stations of East Japan Railway Company Railway stations in Kawasaki, Kanagawa