It has been confirmed that the central government-led “large scale consolidation programme of the Heisei era (the current emperor’s reign)” finishing on the March 31st, has resulted in 1,727 municipalities being formed by merger. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, after the consolidation to incorporate Kuni Village into Nakanojou Town (both in Gunma Prefecture) on the March 23rd, there are no further plans for continuing the consolidation. Municipalities have been cut by about half from 3,232 municipalities that existed before the start of consolidation in March 1999. The Hatoyama government is now in the middle of presenting a law reform bill to the Japanese parliament which repeals the current law, with the exception of “consolidation that enables municipalities with a population of 30,000 to become cities”. This will help independent consolidation by the municipalities from April.
