Under the Nara period Ritsuryō system, the area that is now Kanagawa Ward became part of Tachibana District in Musashi Province.

During the Edo period, the area was tenryō territory controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate, but administered through various hatamoto.

However, for security reasons, the actual settlement was established at neighboring Yokohama (present day Naka Ward).

Kanagawa Ward soon rebuilt after the end of the war, although large portions of its territory remained under the control of the United States military until the 1970s.

Kanagawa Ward is a regional commercial center and bedroom community for central Yokohama and Tokyo.