Abstract
This paper analysed the factors that led to the merger of three hamlets in Niigata Prefecture in 2020. Although discussions concerning expanding the area of hamlets have been facilitated mainly by the government, specific cases have never been examined. Thus, we verified the procedure of the hamlets’finances and their transition using the accounting documents kept in Fudo for over 60 years. The finances were developed through the hamlet-based union called “Sangaza” which managed irrigation and roads, and determined the levy rates and taxes for residents; each hamlet directly collected the levy from residents. This unique levy system, called “Chiso” was undermined as the levy rates were lowered in response to miscellaneous income received from municipalities and government subsidies. This “zero taxation” disrupted the order within hamlets and obliterated their role, eventually making the merger inevitable. The newly created neighbourhood association now uses per capita taxation rates. It can also be surmised that this reorganisation arose spontaneously from the residents’concern about depopulation. Future tasks are threefold: to examine the factors from perspectives other than finances, to investigate the trends concerning internal groups formed after the merger, and to clarify the relationship between the communal forests and the hamlets’finances.
