Kawamata (Fukushima)

Kawamata-machi 川 俣 町
Geographical location in Japan
Region :	Tōhoku
Prefecture :	Fukushima
Coordinates :	37 ° 40 '  N , 140 ° 36'  E Coordinates: 37 ° 39 '54 "  N , 140 ° 35' 54"  E
Basic data
Surface:	127.70 km²
Residents :	12,861 (April 1, 2020)
Population density :	101 inhabitants per km²
Community key :	07308-3
Symbols
Flag / coat of arms:
Tree :	maple
Flower :	Rhododendron kaempferi
Bird :	Japanese Bush Warbler
town hall
Address :	Kawamata Town Hall 30 Aza Gohyakuda Kawamata- machi , Date-gun Fukushima  960-1492
Website URL:	http://www.town.kawamata.lg.jp/
Location of Kawamatas in Fukushima Prefecture

Kawamata ( Japanese 川 俣 町 , - machi ) is a Japanese city ​​in Date County in Fukushima Prefecture .

geography

Kawamata is located in the Abukuma Highlands in the Nakadōri region of Fukushima Prefecture. The built-up area extends over the lowlands of the Hirose-gawa ( 広 瀬 川 ) and the Takane-gawa ( 高根 川 ), which merge here in the north of the municipality, from which the municipality name of the "river bifurcation" is derived. This is at an altitude of 200 m, while most of the municipal area is at 500 m and is largely unpopulated. The highest elevation is the Hiyama ( 日 山 ) with 1057 m  TP at the southern tip, which is also the border mark to Namie in the southeast, Katsurao in the south and Nihonmatsu in the west. It is bordered by the prefecture capital Fukushima to the northwest , Date to the north and Iitate to the east .

history

Kawamata was set up as a small town ( machi ) when the Japanese community was reorganized on April 1, 1889 . On March 1st, 1955 the merger with the villages ( mura ) Tomita ( 富 田村 , -mura ), Fukuta ( 福田 村 , -mura ), Ojima ( 小島 村 , -mura ), Iizaka ( 飯 坂 村 , -mura ), Kotsunagi ( 小 綱 木村 , -mura ) and Ōtsunagi ( 大綱 木村 , -mura ), as well as Yamakiya ( 山 木屋 村 , -mura ) in the neighboring district of Adachi to the new, today's community of Kawamata.

Tōhoku earthquake and nuclear disaster 2011

Location reference from Kawamata to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
and the long-term evacuation zones

As of April 22, 2011:
Orange = restricted area within a 20 km radius
Yellow = "Evacuation Prepared Area"
Pink = "Deliberate Evacuation Area"

As of June 15, 2012:
In addition to the restricted area and “Deliberate Evacuation Area”, there are 3 categories:
Category 1: Area ready for the evacuation order to be lifted
Category 2 = residents are prohibited from permanent residence.
Category 3 = long-term unsuitable for return of residents

The eastern part of the municipality of Kawamata belonged to the "Deliberate Evacuation Area"

In the Tōhoku earthquake of March 11, 2011, the Kawamata community, for which a population of 15,569 was given in the 2010 census, had relatively little damage. 28 residential buildings were completely destroyed, 30 partially. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA) reported no dead, missing or injured for Kawamata as a result of the Tōhoku disaster of 2011 until their 148th damage report dated September 9, 2013, then changed their information to their 149 Damage report from March 7, 2014 on 18 deaths and up to the 157th damage report from March 7, 2018 on 29 deaths.

As a countermeasure to the nuclear disaster, a restricted area was designated around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant within a radius of 20 km. However, there were also many other locations with high radiation values ​​beyond this 20 km radius, as radioactive particles were carried away from the damaged power plant by the wind. These places included Kawamata and 10 other villages and cities, including Minamisōma , Naraha , Tomioka , Kawauchi , Ōkuma , Futaba , Namie , Iitate , Tamura and Katsurao . According to the evacuation orders of May 7, 2013, these regions were divided into four different categories according to their radioactive exposure: Areas with a radiation exposure of less than 20 mSv per year, which were treated by the government as a threshold value for permanent return Category 1. Areas of this Category 1 could be entered at their own discretion and without the use of protective equipment with the only restriction that they were not allowed to stay overnight there. These areas were ready for the evacuation order to be lifted. In areas with a radiation exposure between 20 and 50 mSv per year (category 2), residents were prohibited from permanent residence. Areas with over 50 mSv per year (category 3) were seen as unsuitable for a return of residents in the long term. A fourth evacuation area had a special status.

On April 22, 2011, the government issued an evacuation recommendation for a zone called the Deliberate Evacuation Area, areas where there were concerns that airborne radiation exposure would be cumulative within a year of the nuclear disaster Radiation dose of 20 mSv can be achieved. The residents should therefore evacuate from these areas within one month in an orderly and planned manner. The background was that a high level of radiation exposure spread through the air had been discovered outside of the 20 km perimeter evacuation zone. During this time, the government began using the 20 mSv / year threshold as a basis for making evacuation recommendations.

On March 31 and April 1, 2017, the Japanese government revoked the evacuation orders for around 32,000 residents from the four radiation-contaminated communities of Iitate, Kawamata, Namie and Tomioka, allowing them to return to their homes. The only places that were still the subject of evacuation orders were Futaba and Ōkuma and parts of the five neighboring towns and villages Minamisōma, Iitate, Namie, Tomioka and Katsurao.

Silk production

Statue of Otehime in Kawamatas Central Park

Kawamata is known nationwide for its silk production. Legend has it that Otehime , wife of Emperor Sushun , fled here after his assassination in 592 and founded silkworm breeding and weaving in Kawamata. At least Kawamata's reputation as a silk city is known for the middle of the 17th century. After Japan opened up , the silk was also marketed internationally, and half of the Yokohama scarves ( 横 浜 ス カ ー フ ), which briefly had a global market share of 80% in this segment, actually came from Kawamata.

A particular specialty is sanminsan silk, which is only 1/10 the thickness of normal silk and is sometimes referred to as the thinnest silk in the world and is therefore also used by international fashion houses such as Giorgio Armani SpA .

Attractions

Cosquín en Japón, 2006

Since 1975, the Latin American music festival Cosquín en Japón ( コ ス キ ン ・ エ ン ・ ハ ポ ン Kosukin en Hapon ) has been held in Kawamata every October , based on the Cosquín festival in Argentina . Around 180 groups took part in the three-day festival in 2016.

Another attraction is the Tōge-no-Mori nature park ( 峠 の 森 自然 公園 ) around the mountain Hanazuka-yama ( 花 塚 山 ) at the foot of which there is a functioning water mill with a 10 m water wheel.

The city's landmark is the statue of Otehime in the central park.

traffic

The most important highways are the national road 114 running from north to south to Fukushima or Namie, as well as the national road 349 running from west to east to Mito or Shibata . In addition, the 459 national road to Niigata or Namie brushes south .

A connection to the rail network no longer exists since 1972 the Kawamata line ( 川 俣 線 ) to Matsukawa (now part of Fukushima) was discontinued.

education

There are six primary schools in Kawamata (Kawamata, Iizaka, Fukuta, Yamakiya, Kawamata South and Tomita), the Kawamata and Yamakiya Middle Schools, and the Kawamata High School, which offers a general curriculum as well as one with a focus on mechanical engineering.

Web links

Commons : Kawamata  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Reiko Hasegawa: Disaster Evacuation from Japan's 2011 Tsunami Disaster and the Fukushima Nuclear Accident . In: Studies . No. 5 , 2013, ISSN  2258-7535 , p. 1-54 . (Institut du développement durable et des relations internationales, IDDRI).
2. ↑ ^{a b} Masaru Arakida, Mikio Ishiwatari: Evacuation . In: Federica Ranghieri, Mikio Ishiwatari (Ed.): Learning from Megadisasters - Lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake . World Bank Publications, Washington, DC 2014, ISBN 978-1-4648-0153-2 , Chapter 11, pp. 99-108 , doi : 10.1596 / 978-1-4648-0153-2 ( limited preview in Google book search). , License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO.
3. ↑ Mikio Ishiwatari, Satoru Mimura, Hideki Ishii, Kenji Ohse, Akira Takagi: The Recovery Process in Fukushima . In: Federica Ranghieri, Mikio Ishiwatari (Ed.): Learning from Megadisasters - Lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake . World Bank Publications, Washington, DC 2014, ISBN 978-1-4648-0153-2 , chap. 36 , p. 331–343 , doi : 10.1596 / 978-1-4648-0153-2 ( limited preview in Google book search). , here: p. 335, Map 36.1 "Rearrangement of evacuation zoning" "Source: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.", License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO.
4. ↑ Evacuation Areas Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), (METI Measures and Requests in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake> Assistance of Residents Affected by the Nuclear Incidents> Evacuation Areas): Restricted areas and areas to which evacuation orders have been issued (June 15, 2012) ( Memento July 9, 2018 on WebCite ) (PDF)
5. ↑ 平 成 22 年 国 勢 調査 - 人口 等 基本 集 計 結果 - （岩手 県 ， 宮城 県 及 び 福島 県） ( Memento from March 24, 2018 on WebCite ) (PDF, Japanese), stat.go.jp (Statistics Japan - Statistics Bureau , Ministry of Internal Affairs and communication), 2010 Census, Summary of Results for Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures, URL: http://www.stat.go.jp/data/kokusei/2010/index.html .
6. ↑ ^{a b c} 平 成 23 年 （2011 年） 東北 地方 太平洋 沖 地震 （東 日本 大 震災） に つ い て （第 157 報） ( Memento from March 18, 2018 on WebCite ) ( PDF ( Memento from March 18, 2018 on WebCite )),総 務 省 消防 庁 (Fire and Disaster Management Agency), March 7, 2018.
7. ↑ 平 成 23 年 （2011 年） 東北 地方 太平洋 沖 地震 と り ま と め 報 ( Memento from July 16, 2018 on WebCite ) , 147 報 ～ (1 月 ～ 12 月)> 2013 年 （平 成 25 年） ( Memento from July 16, 2018 2018 on WebCite ) : 平 成 23 年 （2011 年） 東北 地方 太平洋 沖 地震 （第 148 報） ( Memento from July 16, 2018 on WebCite ) (PDF), 総 務 省 消防 庁 (Fire and Disaster Management Agency), 148. Report, September 9, 2013.
8. ↑ 平 成 23 年 （2011 年） 東北 地方 太平洋 沖 地震 と り ま と め 報 ( Memento of July 16, 2018 on WebCite ) , 149 報 ～ (1 月 ～ 12 月)> 2014 年 （平 成 26 年） ( Memento of July 16 2018 on WebCite ) : 平 成 23 年 （2011 年） 東北 地方 太平洋 沖 地震 （第 149 報） ( Memento from July 16, 2018 on WebCite ) (PDF), 総 務 省 消防 庁 (Fire and Disaster Management Agency), 149. Report, March 7, 2014.
9. ↑ Dinil Pushpalal, Zhang Yan, Tran Thi Diem Thi, Yuri Scherbak, Michiko Kohama: Tears of Namie: An Appraisal of Human Security in the Township of Namie . In: Dinil Pushpalal, Jakob Rhyner, Vilma Hossini (eds.): The Great Eastern Japan Earthquake 11 March 2011: Lessons Learned And Research Questions - Conference Proceedings (11 March 2013, UN Campus, Bonn) . 2013, ISBN 978-3-944535-20-3 , ISSN  2075-0498 , pp. 80-87 .
10. ↑ Even as Evacuation Orders are Lifted, Recovery Remains Distant Prospect for Many Fukushima Residents ( Memento July 14, 2018 on WebCite ) , nippon.com, May 24, 2017, by Suzuki Hiroshi.
11. ↑ ^{a b} Kawamata, Fukushima: The World's Thinnest Silk Wins a Global Following. In: Nippon.com. April 27, 2012, accessed July 15, 2018 . 
12. ↑ コ ス キ ン ・ エ ン ・ ハ ポ ン . Kawamata, September 1, 2017, accessed July 15, 2018 (Japanese). 
13. ↑ 機械 科紹 介 . Kawamata High School, accessed July 15, 2018 (Japanese).