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CJ Kawashima City

Bustling Port City

Population:

2560000

Map:

Aberdeen
Game Version:

Cities XL 2012
Hey everyone! Well it's been a long time... no need to explain, I guess
I was asked to show you my latest and actually finished city. So here we go... Welcome to

Kawashima 川島市

This japanese styled city has about 2,560,000 inhabitants, including the surroundings on the map, of course. For this first overview of the name giving part of the city, the river island (kawa 川 shima 島 city 市), I'll keep the story short and let the pictures do most of the work however, a little introduction might be useful:
This city is situated on an eastern shore of a big island, at the estuary of the Ogawa River. It has been a trading post for centuries, ruled from an ancient castle by a famous Daimyo family. From the late 19th century on, the city started to grow quickly and the port has become one of the biggest of the nation.

This is what I call a "finished map"

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Most of the city as seen in western direction:

Here is the river island more clearly:

...and a top view: The island streches approximately 3 kilometers from east to west and its western tip is actually in the ocean.

The old river arm of Ogawa, that separates the island from the rest of the city. Some old fishermen houses can still be seen and they are protected as a national landmark.

In the late 1920's the first highrises were built on the island, giving it the nickname of little Manhattan:

There's also a last bit of natural river banks left in the lower part of the island:

The island is a little town by itself. Some industry can be found in the western parts:

The northern banks of the island are dominated by the big Ogawa River:

The eastern tip is occupied by the Sunrise Shrine 日の出神社:

The main part of the island consists of housing. Mainly low buildings, but some medium high ones can be found as well:

The river arm:

And finally, little Manhattan by night

I hope you like this little introduction. I have prepared some updates already, so keep tuned
Dingtao Wang, Drazicdesign, Project_Oz and 1 other person like this.

Recent Updates

Six temples and shrines of Kawashima May 11, 2023
East of Kawashima Feb 23, 2023
The valleys north of Kawashima Feb 22, 2023

Read all 6 updates...

Recent Reviews

Andommak

5/5,

Very nice job, it's a real japanese city.

Feb 10, 2024
veija2

5/5,

Wow! Well laid out, love the shrine, the port and the railyard. Such detail on the river banks - looks fantastic.

Nov 22, 2023
Drazicdesign

5/5,

Your city makes me travel to the other side of the world!

I like the choice of buildings chosen to give it an Asian look!
The construction, positioning of buildings and road infrastructure are perfectly done!

What I like the most is your first photos which present the city from a bird's eye view!

This allows you to see that the city is perfectly reflected, following the rivers and the relief!
That's wonderful!

I congratulate you on your excellent work!

Mar 3, 2023
Ricardo Silva de Aquino

5/5,

Muito realista, parabens.

Feb 19, 2023
1. Author's Response
  Muchas gracias :)
XOUSTE

5/5,

Knew you've always been a fan of Japanese cities, and good at building them too.

Feb 5, 2023
1. Author's Response
  Thank you very much for stopping by and also for 5 stars ;)
kipate

5/5,

Another magnificent Asian city of yours! I can see how you invested your lifetime into re-creating even the smallest details one can spot in Japanese cities!

For example that railyard right next to the splendidly designed modern main station! One can find such complexes quite often in mid-sized Japanese cities (Nagano, Niigata, Okayama, Takasaki,...). And the approaches look great as well! And then you of course have the functional looking business district right next to the station. Very well done, and close to reality!

What I also love is your port! I guess that @Project_Oz now has to decide which port he likes the most :D I mean, yes, it's densely built, but that's again just the way that Japanese ports look like. I really like the way you tried to create a vibrant urban atmosphere around the port, with the expressway and the bridge running right through the area. And I like how you put the railyard and the stadium next to the container terminal! It once again enhances that hustle and bustle atmosphere there, and shows how Japanese city planners use truly every little area they can :)

And that Americanized business district looks fantastic! I was like "Where is the night view?!", when I scrolled down just a bit at first, but in the end, you did not fail us :D

Congratulations on the Sunrise Shrine! I was really stunned for a while, because the area looks so scenic! Lovely done :)

Your suburbs also look well-designed, I'm eager to see more of them!

Keep it coming :)

And yeah, I know you are using right-side roads, which does not make it look like a Japanese city. But I think it's fine, because the English roads look really shitty, and they have those huge stop marks on them at crossings... Also, it's still a fictional city, so it's totally fine!!!

Jan 10, 2023
1. Author's Response
  Thanks a lot for your review! Very detailed as usual but it's really nice to know, that the details and ways I tried to build this city are being recognized :D
  
  Indeed it was my intention to let it look pretty dense. Visiting japanese cities gives you a feeling, that they put everything possible and even more into a space that's actually too small for it. That in mind I even did too few!
  
  I took some pictures myself of the Okayama railyards and used these in parts as inspiration for Kawashima ;)
  
  In past cities I didn't like the use of the in-game English roads. The crossings are nice, but that's it. Also this is a fantasy city and not actually situated in real life Japan...
  
  Thanks again and find out more son :)
Игорь

4/5,

Very good! I like this city)

Jan 10, 2023
1. Author's Response
  Thank you :)