ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the cases of two municipalities that managed to resist municipal merger and remain independent to this day: Miyada Village in Nagano Prefecture and Nishiawakura Village in Okayama Prefecture. It discusses how residents rallied to defend their respective localities and delves into background information on the historical formation of the municipalities, their embeddedness in their natural surroundings, and their multiscalar relations and boundaries. Miyada Village is situated in Kamiina District in southern Nagano Prefecture and is comprised of nine settlements. The assembly of each municipality approved the merger agreement on 15 February 1954, but while the assemblies of Akaho, Nakazawa, and Ina Village passed the agreement quickly without much discussion, the process was less straightforward in Miyada. The Komagane merger would be carried out under the conditions that were agreed upon on 1 July 1954 and officially create Komagane City.
