mergers were not mandatory, the central government established the goal to decrease municipality numbers to 1,000, and used incentives to urge prefectural governments to promote merger. There are two types of merger. Absorption by one city of others, the core city retains its name, legal status, mayor and legislative body, and municipal offices, while the absorbed entity loses theirs. The creation of a new entity out of the merger cities, when a new entity is created, they receive a new legal status, create a new name and location for government offices, and form a new council. Local referendums Local governments used local referendums or questionnaire surveys on merger to evaluate public opinion. There were 352 local referendums on merging took place from 1999 to 2006. Great Heisei Amalgamations Vast number of municipal amalgamations were executed from 1999 to 2010, so called Great Heisei Amalgamations. Municipality numbers dropped from 3,232 to 1,727. Because the reduction of LATG from the Trinity Reform to smaller municipalities, they had to voluntary merge with others. Local governments with low financial capabilities that cannot bear an unstable fiscal was the main motivation. From April 1999 to April 2014, there were 188 cases of municipal absorption, and 461 new municipalities. Among them, 582 consolidations were done during the Great Heisei Consolidations period from April 1999 to March 2006. This number includes duplicated consolidations. Amalgamate patterns There are 8 merging patterns during the Great Heisei Amalgamations. Merge established by the Merger Council with original members. Merge after creating a new Merger Council with new partners. Merge in another Merger Council after seceding from the original Merger Council. A merger in which the original Merger Council increased in size with new members Continue as independent municipality after seceding from original Merger Council. Continue as an independent municipality having not joined a Merger Council. Continue as an independent municipality after the Merger Council dissolves. Merge on the basis of the Merger Law alone (without a Merger Council). Record of changes List of mergers and dissolutions of municipalities in Japan shows mergers and dissolutions of municipalities that took place in recent years. Naming of new municipalities Naming a new post-merger municipality is not a negligible matter. Disagreement on a name sometimes causes merger talks to break down. If a city is far larger than other towns which join it, no arguments take place; the city's name simply survives. However, if their