Ōma

Ōma occupies the northwestern coastline of Shimokita Peninsula, facing the Tsugaru Strait, with Cape Shiokubi on the Kameda Peninsula in the Oshima region of Hokkaido 17.5 kilometers away. Cape Ōmazaki (大間崎) is the northernmost point on the island of Honshū.^[3] Most of the coastline is dominated by coastal terraces.The longest river is the Okuto River (8.7 km long), which originates from Mount Otaki. More than 70% of the town is national forest, about 25% is farmland and wilderness, and the total residential area is less than 1%. The town extends approximately 8 kilometers east-to-west and 15 kilometers north-to-south. Much of the town is within the limits of the Shimokita Hanto Quasi-National Park. In 2002, the Ministry of the Environment classified some tidal flats of the Ōma shoreline as one of the 500 Important Wetlands in Japan particularly for its biodiversity of marine flora, especially several varieties of kelp.^[4]

According to Japanese census data,^[7] the population of Ōma has declined since 1960.

The area around Ōma was inhabited by the Emishi people until the historical period. During the Edo period, it was controlled by the Nambu clan of Morioka Domain. During the post-Meiji restoration establishment of the modern municipalities system on 1 April 1889, Ōoku Village was proclaimed from the merger of Ōma hamlet with neighboring Okudo hamlet. It was renamed Ōma Town on 3 November 1942.

Ōma has been a popular location setting for movies and television dramas. It was the setting for the 1983 movie Gyōei no mure (魚影の群れ) starring Ken Ogata. In 2000, Ōma was the setting for an NHK television series Watashi no Aoi Sora (私の青空) starring Tabata Tomoko. This was followed by another fictional series Maguro (マグロ) on TV Asahi starring Tetsuya Watari in 2007.

Ōma has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of ten members. Ōma is part of Shimokita District which, together with the city of Mutsu, contributes three members to the Aomori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Aomori 1st district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.^[8]

The economy of Ōma was traditionally heavily dependent on commercial fishing. The town was famous for having the "black diamond" of tuna, which are caught in the traditional manner by hand in two-person boats, and sold under the "Ōma" registered brand. One Ōma tuna was sold at a then record-high 333.6 million yen in January 2019.^[9] Other seafood products include sea urchin roe, konbu and squid.^[10] The new record price for a bluefin tuna, 510 million yen in 2026, was set by a 243 kg tuna caught off the coast of Ōma.^[11]

The town is the site of a nuclear power plant, the Ōma Nuclear Power Plant, which has faced numerous delays. What makes the nuclear power plant unique is its use of MOX fuel when it comes on line.^[12]

Ōma has two public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Aomori Prefectural Board of Education.^[13]

• Akaishi Beach
• Ōma Onsen, hot spring resort
• Ōmazaki, northernmost point on the island of Honshū
• Ōmazaki Lighthouse, one of the "50 Lighthouses of Japan"

• Hiroshi Izumi – silver medalist in judo at the 2004 Summer Olympics