Kawasaki has expanded to about 563,000 tertiary-sector workers while still retaining about 127,000 workers in the secondary sector. Rather than completely replacing its industrial base with services, the city has become a mixed economy that has kept R&D and advanced manufacturing while expanding service industries.
Employment in Kawasaki by industry (2020 Census)
| Category | Number / share |
|---|---|
| Labor force | 741,499 |
| Unemployed persons | 24,145 |
| Primary-industry workers | 2,625 |
| Secondary-industry workers | 126,522 |
| Tertiary-industry workers | 563,476 |
Even with tertiary industry the largest, secondary industry is 40%
Tertiary-industry employment is 563,476, while secondary-industry employment is 126,522. The service side has become much larger, but manufacturing and construction employment still exceeds 100,000.
There are 24,145 unemployed people within a labor force of 741,499, or an approximate 3.3%. The employment counts and shares in the original version of the article did not align with the same official API table, so the article has been standardized to the published 2020 figures.
Waterfront industry, inland R&D, and services around Musashi-Kosugi overlap
The waterfront area of Kawasaki Ward includes JFE Steel, Mitsubishi Fuso, and chemical, energy, and logistics facilities. Nakahara Ward is home to Fujitsu, while the Saiwai Ward area includes NEC- and Toshiba-related research and technology bases. Kawasaki's strength is that it retains not only conventional factories but also research and development.
At the same time, redevelopment and population growth around Musashi-Kosugi have expanded retail, healthcare, education, real estate, and information services. Rather than a one-way story of industry declining and being replaced by services, Kawasaki is better understood as having developed two pillars: high-value industry and urban services.
How to read these figures
Scheduled monthly wages do not include bonuses or overtime pay. This table alone also does not show differences in industry composition, company-size composition, or occupational mix.
The article is organized primarily around published statistical figures. Numerical values directly observable in the statistical tables should be distinguished from interpretations of background factors.
Summary: Kawasaki expanded services without abandoning industry
Kawasaki is a service city with about 563,000 tertiary-sector workers and, at the same time, an industrial and technology city with about 127,000 secondary-sector workers. Waterfront manufacturing, R&D, and urban services increasingly coexist.
- Secondary industry: 126,522 workers
- Tertiary industry: 563,476 workers
- Major bases include JFE Steel and Mitsubishi Fuso as well as Fujitsu and NEC
- This is not a simple replacement of industry by services
Source: Published statistics listed in the Analysis notes at the end of this article
📊 Analysis notes
This article is based on the following statistical data.
- Statistics used: Statistics Bureau of Japan, Social and Demographic Statistics System (Labor) (Table ID: 0000020106, view on e-Stat)
- Area: Kawasaki
- Year: 2020
- Data retrieved: June 6, 2026
- Notes: The article is organized primarily around figures from published statistics. Because industry composition, company-size composition, occupational mix, and other factors outside the article also matter, numerical values directly observable in the statistical tables should be distinguished from interpretation.
Chart and table values have been independently aggregated and visualized from the statistical data above.
Table values have been organized from the statistical data above.