大熊町勢要覧 -005/038page

阿武隈山系の豊穣なる大地と壮大な海、そして、人の心で新しい未来を拓く大熊町。

　東は太平洋に面し、西は阿武隈山系の分水嶺をもって田村郡都路村と境し、南は郡内富岡町、川内村に、北は浪江町、双葉町に隣接して、東京電力株式会社福島第一原子力発電所専用港が冷却水取水を目的として夫沢地内に造られ、重量物荷揚げのため3,000t級の船舶が出入りできます。霜害と水稲結実期の長雨が古来地域農業の問題とされてきたが、自然条件に恵まれ住みよい地域です。

OKUMA TOWN ON THE FERTILE LAND OF THE ABUKUMA MOUNTAINS FACING THE MAGNIFICENT OCEAN, WHOSE PEOPLE TRY TO OPEN A NEW FUTURE TOGETHER WITH PASSION.

The east coast of the town faces the Pacific Ocean, the west borders Toji Village of the Tamura district with the Abukuma mountains watershed, the south borders Tomioka Town and Kawauchi Village within the district, and the north borders on Namie Town and Futaba Town. A special port was constructed in Ottozawa to take in the cooling water for the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima No.1 Atomic Power Plant, permitting 3,000-ton-class vessels to unload their cargoes. Damage by frost and rain to the rice crop has been one of the agricultural problems in the area since early times, but this is a comfortable area to live in, being blessed with an agreeable natural environment.

大熊町の誕生と歴史

　昭和29年11月1日に旧大野村と熊村が町村含併促進法により含併して、人口8,815人、世帯数1,550戸、総面積78.50平方キロメートルの大熊町として発足しました。

　合併前の大野村は、明治22年4月1日町村制施行の時に、野上村、大川原村、下野上村の3村が含併したものであり、熊村は熊川村、熊村（明治13年7月15日に熊村と佐山村の2村含併）、夫沢村、小良浜村および小入野村の5か村が合併してできたものであります。

　藩政時代は現在の双葉郡双葉町一帯とともに相馬藩領内七郷のうち、南標葉郷陣屋の支配下に属し南は磐城に接し、戦国時代は国境陣地群を形成し、徳川期となって元和年間以降は熊駅に関門が置かれました。現在、町内は21の行政区に 分かれています。発足後は、日本経済の進展につれて、人口は減少の一途をたどったが昭和42年1月東京電力株式会社が夫沢地内に、原子力発電所建設以来激漸の傾向となり平成12年1月1日現在の人口は、10,938人、世帯数3,366芦、総面積は 78.70平方キロメートルであります。

Birth and History of Okuma Town

Okuma Town was inaugurated on November 1, 1954, by merging Ohno Village with Kuma Town according to the Towns and Villages Merger Promotion Act, bringing the population to 8,815, the number of households to 1,550, and the total area to 78.50 square kilometers. Before the merger, Ohno Village was a combination of three villages, that is, Nogami Village, 0hdawara Village, and Shimonogami Village, after the Towns and Villages Institution was enforced on April 1, 1889, and Kuma Town was made from five villages, that is, Kumagawa Village, Kuma Village (two villages of Kuma Village and Sayama Village merged on July 15, 1880), Fusawa Village, Orahara Village and Koirino Village.

During the age of feudal clan administration, the town's area was placed under the rule of Minamishinehago Jinya from among seven villages in Soma Feudal Domain, along with the entire area of the present Futaba Town, Futaba District, with its south bordering on Iwaki. In the age of civil wars, it formed a group of border positions, and in the Tokugawa Period, a checkpoint was placed at Kumaeki from the beginning of the 17th century onward. At present, our town is divided into 21 administrative sections. After the inauguration, the population continued to decrease as the Japanese economy progressed. When Tokyo E1ectric Power Co., Inc. established an atomic power plant in January 1967 at Ottozawa, however, the population started to pick up rapidly, and as of January 1, 2000, we boast the population of 10,938, with 3,366 households, and a total area of 78.70 square kilometers.