①In the case of a merger of corporations that have obtained the permission referred to in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article (excluding the situation where a corporation that has obtained the permission under the same paragraph continues to exist after merging with a corporation that has not obtained the permission), or in the case of a split of corporations that have obtained the permission (limited to situations where the entire business of extracting hot springs related to the permission is succeeded), if the merger or split has been approved by the prefectural governor, the corporation that continues to exist after the merger, the corporation established by the merger, or the corporation that succeeds to the entire business through the split is to succeed to the status of the person that obtained the permission referred to in the same paragraph.

②The provisions of Article 4, paragraph (2) and paragraph (2) of the preceding Article (limited to the part related to items (ii) through (iv)) apply mutatis mutandis to the approval referred to in the preceding paragraph. In this case, the term "the applicant" in paragraph (2) of the same Article is deemed to be replaced with "the corporation surviving the merger, the corporation established by the merger, or the corporation succeeding in the entire business of extracting hot springs related to the permission through the split".