modern municipalities system, the area consisted of 21 towns and villages. Between the years 1955 and 1960, these were consolidated into the five towns of Date (formerly the villages of Nagaoka and Fushiguro), Hobara (formerly the town of Hobara and the villages of Ooda, Kamihobara, Hashirazawa, and Tominari), Ryōzen (formerly the villages of Ryozen, Kakeda, Oguni, and Ishido), Tsukidate (formerly the villages of Ote and Otegawa), and Yanagawa (formerly the town of Yanagawa and the villages of Awano, Sekimoto, Shirane, Ooeda, Isazawa, Tomino, and Yamafunyuu), which merged to create the modern city of Date on January 1, 2006. Date is about north-west of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, the site of the nuclear accident that followed the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Although outside the nuclear accident exclusion zone, the levels of radiation in the city caused residents, and especially children, to remain indoors. In 2016 an anime was produced in promotion of the city. Masamune Datenicle (政宗ダテニクル) features a young Date Masamune who meets a dragon deity that gives him the ability to call upon former leaders of the Date Clan. Government Date has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 22 members. Date, together with the three municipalities of Date District, collectively contribute three members to the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Fukushima 1st district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan. Economy The economy of Date is primarily agricultural, with an emphasis on rice and horticulture. The area is noted for its peaches and dried persimmons. Taiyo Yuden operates a metal power inductor production plant in the Yanagawa Industrial Zone in Date, Fukushima, which also produced CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs in the past. Peaches Date City's location in central Fukushima (Nakadōri), in the middle of Fukushima Basin, helps in the cultivation of peaches. The most common varieties grown in the area are Akatsuki, Kawanakajima, and Yuuzora. Dried Persimmons As sericulture lost its place in the area during the Taisho period, the former village of Isazawa in Yanagawa replaced it with the production of dried persimmons, among other industries. Dried persimmons had been produced in the area since the Edo Period. However, the addition of sulfur fumigation as was used in the production of raisins in the United States, allowed for a much sweeter product. Whereas traditional dried