is a town located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. In 2010, the town had a population of 11,515. However, the town was totally evacuated in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and residents were permitted return during daylight hours from May 2013. In April 2019, parts of the town were deemed to have been successfully decontaminated, with residents allowed to return to these areas.
, the town had an official registered population of 10,004 in 4,852 households; however, this number is substantially higher than the actual number of residents in the town due to the municipality continuing to keep track of its residents despite them having evacuated to settlements elsewhere throughout the country. The actual resident population in the town was 545 people in May 2023.
à Âkuma is located on the Pacific Ocean coastline of central Fukushima. à Âkuma lies in the center of the Hamadà Âri region of Fukushima, bordered to the west by the Abukuma Highlands and to the east by the Pacific Ocean. It is set between the cities of Namie and Futaba to the north, Tamura to the west, and Kawauchi and Tomioka to the south. The town is the site of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
, with a height of , is within the town. The also flows within the town.
Per Japanese census data, the population of à Âkuma grew steadily over the past 40 years until the nuclear disaster.
à Âkuma has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in à Âkuma is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .
The area of present-day à Âkuma was part of Mutsu Province. While historical records are unclear, it is believed that the area of present-day à Âkuma was ruled by the Shineha clan beginning in the mid-12th century. Later, during the Sengoku period, in December 1492 the Sà Âma clan defeated the Shineha clan, and the area transferred to the Sà Âma clan's control.
During the Edo period, the was established along the , also referred as Coastal Road (æµÂéÂÂã Hamadà Âri), in the area of present-day à Âkuma. The Iwaki-Sà Âma Road connected the region to Mito in the south and Sendai in the north. Modern-day National Route 6, which runs through à Âkuma, generally follows the same route as the Iwaki-Sà Âma Road.
In 1888, the national government passed the , and in accordance with the act, on 1 April of the following year the villages of and were inaugurated as parts of the district of .
On 1 April 1896, the Shineha district merged with the district of to become the present-day district of Futaba. Over a half a century later, on 11 November 1954, the villages of à Âno and Kumamachi merged to form the present-day town of à Âkuma.
Beginning during the 1870s, coal mining became an integral part of the economy of the Hamadà Âri region. This continued through the beginning stages of Japan's post-World War II rapid economic growth period, leading Fukushima Prefecture to lag behind the country as a whole in industrial and economic development. In the tail end of the 1950s, the prefecture began promoting electricity generation as a way to alleviate the economic problems on the horizon from the impending closure of the coal mines.
On 30 September â 22 October 1961 the town councils of Futaba and à Âkuma, respectively, unanimously voted to invite Tokyo Electric Power Company to build a nuclear power plant on the border of the two towns. In September 1967 construction began on unit one of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. By October 1978, units one through four, which are on the à Âkuma side of the plant, had been commissioned. Units five and six (on the Futaba side) were commissioned by March 1979.
On 11 March 2011 the 2011 Tà Âhoku earthquake and tsunami occurred, causing severe damage to à Âkuma and especially devastating coastal areas. The tsunami hit and flooded the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, located on the Pacific coast of à Âkuma, and set off the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. By the following morning, the Japanese government had ordered residents to evacuate to outside of a radius of the power plant. Many residents were evacuated to the nearby city of Tamura, among other cities.
Shortly thereafter à Âkuma set up a temporary town office in the . The temporary town office was later moved on 3 April to Aizuwakamatsu. à Âkuma residents had scattered to about 20 evacuation centers located in the cities of Tamura and Kà Âriyama and the towns of Miharu and Ono, and by 30 April approximately 1,800 residents had expressed the desire to also move to Aizuwakamatsu.
On 10 December 2012 à Âkuma modified the areas of the town under evacuation orders and permitted residents of select regions of the town to return to their homes. Within the first 19 days 104 residents returned, however other residents of à Âkuma, like some other communities in Fukushima, are "starting to come to terms with a sobering realization: their old homes are probably lost forever, and they must start anew elsewhere."
In 2015, the town sought to develop a forested area for living by 2018. The seaside area of the town, which was once heavily populated, was intended to be turned into a nature reserve.
In April 2019, parts of à Âkuma were deemed safe from further radiation contamination. The BBC reported that around 50 people were scheduled to move back.
à Âkuma has three public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Fukushima Prefectural Board of Education. The operation of all schools remains suspended indefinitely.