Japan witnessed a boom of municipal mergers between 1999 and 2006. Duringthat period, the number of municipalities was reduced from 3,232 to 1,820. TheGreat Mergers of the Heisei Period, as they have become known, took place withina framework of extensive decentralization reforms in which the...

In recent years, many regional cities that had relied on their industrial baseand central function for the surrounding areas have experienced varying forms ofdecline, including population shrinking and ageing. During the wave of municipalmergers, these cities have integrated many peripheral...