The Port of Kawasaki is located on Japan's main island, Honshu, on Tokyo Bay about half way between the Port of Tokyo and the Port of Yokohama. Separated from Tokyo by the Tama River, the Port of Kawasaki was almost completed destroyed during World War II. In 2005, over 1.3 million people lived in the Port of Kawasaki.

The Port of Kawasaki contains three major industrial zones. Heavy industries are located on the reclaimed coastline. The Port of Kawasaki's city center contains automobile, tool, and machine industries. Light chemical industries are housed in the northwest section of the Port of Kawasaki. The western Tama Hills area contains new residential developments with rail connections to Tokyo as well as several universities.

From the early 17th to middle 19th Centuries, the Port of Kawasaki was a large busy city and an important wayside point for travelers on the Tokaido highway between Edo (old Tokyo) and Kyoto.

Its role as a stopping point for travelers helped the Port of Kawasaki grow in political importance during the Edo period. The name Kawasaki means "point on the river" in Japanese, and the Port of Kawasaki flooded frequently during this period since there were no levees.

With passage of the country's first local government law in 1899, eastern Kawasaki was designated a town, but the remaining Port of Kawasaki area was incorporated as villages.

During the years between the Meiji era in the middle 19th Century to the Taisho era in the 1920s, the Port of Kawasaki gained a railway station, and many trains brought new companies and population to the city. In 1924, the Kawasaki city was officially founded when two towns and a village around Kawasaki Station were merged. The Port of Kawasaki became one of the country's most important industrial areas.

The Port of Kawasaki was expanded to its modern size in 1939, although areas have been added by the reclamation of off-shore lands. Due to its industrial importance to Japan, the Port of Kawasaki was often bombed heavily during World War II. By the time the war ended, the Port of Kawasaki had been virtually destroyed.

After World War II, the people of the Port of Kawasaki redesigned and rebuilt the city, restoring its earlier industrial center while also improving its transportation infrastructure. Modern Kawasaki is proud that it has been restored into a modern cosmopolitan center.

Since the 1970s, the Port of Kawasaki has been divided into seven districts. Industry dominates in the south. Commerce, culture, and community dominate the northern districts. The Port of Kawasaki is a popular place for foreigners to live because it is clean, safe, and comfortable.

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