It looked like a match made in heaven when, on Aug. 10, the two beaming mayors of Hoya and Tanashi shook hands on a deal to merge the two western Tokyo cities.

But in the runup to the official inauguration of Nishi-Tokyo on Jan. 21, local residents are drawing battle lines along the old city boundaries in a dispute over who will head the new municipality.

Just as the two cities had managed to nail down details such as which municipal government buildings would continue their current functions, residents assumed they had negotiated which of the two men would pursue Nishi-Tokyo's top post.