With its gently arching coastline overlooking Enoshima Island in Sagami Bay and a distant view of Mount Fuji and the Hakone mountain range, the Shonan area in Kanagawa Prefecture triggers memories of songs and movies about the picturesque area.

Now a new city named Shonan would be created if the three cities of Hiratsuka, Fujisawa and Chigasaki, and the three towns of Samukawa, Oiso and Ninomiya, become one under a planned merger by March 2005.

But the plan has prompted heated debate among local residents and officials, with some municipalities questioning the advantages of a merger.