occurred. Several buildings, including the municipal office building, suffered significant structural damage and were subsequently evacuated. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant initially led to the establishment of a 30 km exclusion zone around the power station. Although Kawamata was located outside this region, in April 2011, the Japanese government established additional evacuation areas which included the Yamakiya neighborhood of Kawamata. The evacuation order will be lifted on 31 March 2017. Controls had been relaxed in August 2013 permitting decontamination work to start. Economy The traditional industries of Kawamata were historically agriculture and textiles. Rice farming, shamo chicken, and silk goods all remain culturally important. In recent years, the manufacturing of products such as automobile parts has also become prominent. Education As of 2012, Kawamata had six public elementary schools and two junior high schools operated by the town government. The town also operates five half-day kindergartens, and one full-day nursery school. The is one public high school operated by the Fukushima Prefectural Board of Education. Since 2011 a number of schools (kindergarten through junior high school) from neighbouring Iitate village have been housed inside temporary facilities in Kawamata. Kindergartens and nursery schools (currently sharing facilities with Kawamata-Minami Kindergarten) Elementary schools (currently housed inside Kawamata-Minami Elementary School) Kawamata-Minami Elementary School was founded in 1985 from the merger of two former schools: Ōtsunagi Elementary School and Kotsunagi Elementary School. Similarly, Tomita Elementary School was founded in 1989 from the merger of Tsuruzawa and Kogami Elementary Schools. Two other schools, and , were closed down in March 2008 due to declining enrollment. Students from these two schools were moved into Kawamata Elementary School. Following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the former Ojima Elementary School building, now a community centre, was temporarily used to house evacuees from several other municipalities close to the damaged Fukushima I nuclear power station. Junior high schools (currently housed inside Kawamata Junior High School) Originally, various districts of Kawamata had their own junior high schools. In 1974, all except Yamakiya Junior High School were merged into Kawamata Junior High School. High schools is located in the Iizaka district of Kawamata; like all public senior high schools in Japan, it is operated by the prefectural government rather than by the municipality. Transportation Railway Kawamata is not served by any passenger train lines. The nearest railway station is Matsukawa Station on the Tōhoku