Adachi Masahiro

Adachi Masahiro (born 24 May 1969) is a Hinoan businessman and former politician who was previously the Chief Executive of Hinomoto from 2015 to 2019, and the leader of the Trade and Labour Party of Hinomoto (TLP) from 2013 to 2019.

Adachi was born in Kamo, Akakiri. He graduated from Shijobashi University with a bachelor's degree in business in 1992, and went on to work in his family's real estate business, Adachi-Kurata Property. In 2004, he became president of Adachi-Kurata and expanded the company's operations to building and renovating hotels, casinos, and golf courses, forming a landmark partnership with Yamataian global hotel conglomerate Ukiyo-Kan Global Holdings in 2007. In 2009, Adachi co-founded the hedge fund management business Asahi Capital Management. By 2013, Adachi had amassed a significant fortune, estimated at between キ90 million and キ250 million.

In 2012, Adachi quietly joined the TLP. In the emergency party election following Nakahara Tsutomu's resignation, Adachi suddenly announced his decision to contest the leadership, despite his low party seniority and lack of any governmental experience. He was nonetheless backed by a group of pro-independence party members that became known as the "independence mafia", though besides their pro-independence ideologies they shared little else in common. Surprisingly, Adachi won the leadership race and became the Chairman of the TLP in 2013.

As chairman, Adachi redirected the TLP to abruptly adopt a party-wide pro-Independence and populist stance in 2013, forming the Leave 2025 Coalition with several other pro-independence parties in the wake of dissatisfaction with the Yamataian government following the 2010 Masukan War. The TLP achieved a victory in the 2015 general elections, and Adachi was appointed Chief Executive. During his term, Adachi pursued policies aimed at "decoupling" Hinomoto from Yamatai, with the goal of ensuring a smooth transition to independence, with Adachi highly confident that the planned 2025 Hinoan Independence Referendum would result in a decision for Hinoan independence.

However, some of these policies proved to be highly unpopular and increased public opposition to Adachi and his government, and Adachi's policies also drove Hinomoto into a recession due to increased barriers with Hinomoto-Yamatai trade. The TLP's traditional voter bloc of the working class and conservatives were angered by mounting inflation and were alienated by the uncertainty and possible higher taxes that would be brought by Hinoan independence, while the TLP's general image as a socially conservative party as well as the new quasi-nationalist ideology also alienated anti-independence voters.

Simultaneously, Adachi and his close compatriots became embroiled in several gaffes and scandals throughout 2018 and 2019. These included the controversy that arose surrounding Director of Education Anno Mieko's classist and racist remarks, Director of Territorial Infrastructure Hori Naoto's corruption scandal with his brother's construction company receiving favourable government contracts, Adachi's Private Secretary Nakajima Takeo's speeding and bribery of the police scandal, Hori Naoto's second scandal for bribing Yamataian construction companies to stay out of Hinomoto, and Adachi himself being accused of using public funds to buy a car and renovating his private property.

In late 2019, facing rising internal conflicts within the party and threats to his leadership position, Adachi initially refused to resign. However, on 10 November 2019, Adachi abruptly resigned as Chief Executive and as Chairman of the TLP, dissolving his government and triggering the 2019 Hinomoto government crisis. For the first time since Yamatai had assumed sovereignty over Hinomoto, the Prime Minister of Yamatai Yamamoto Hanako invoked Article 9 of the Territorial Law of Hinomoto in order to demand that the TLP form a new government. The TLP chose Kojima Yasushi in an emergency election to replace Adachi on a temporary basis.

Following Adachi's resignation, a power struggle broke out within the TLP between Adachi's "independence mafia" and the TLP old guard. The struggle was eventually won by the TLP old guard under old party boss Konishi Eiji, who came out of retirement to lead the charge against Adachi's "independence mafia". Critics of Adachi blame him and his followers for ruining the reputation of the TLP for their pro-independence agenda, with some going as far as labelling his takeover of the Trade and Labour Party as a "hijack" that resulted in severe damage to one of Hinomoto's oldest and strongest political parties.

Big Boss, Big Dog incident
During a press conference on 17 April, 2016 to address Hori Naoto's corruption scandal, Adachi lost his place in his notes and carried on off-script for over fifteen minutes. Described as a "ramble", he spoke on various topics tangentially related to the corruption scandal, speaking about business practices and the importance of aggression in business deals. When aide Sano Aya attempted to end the conference, Adachi shouted at her and refused to end the conference. Adachi's speech culminated in him declaring that he was the "Big Boss, the Big Dog", and threatened his critics, saying "oppose me if you dare, I'm the big dog here."

Adachi was slammed by critics and the media for his unprofessional behaviour in the press conference. On 10 May, he issued an official apology, claiming that he had not slept the previous night and was under a lot of stress due to the recent earthquake in northern Hinomoto.

Misleading the Prime Minister
In January 2017, Adachi was accused by the Akagi Shinbun of misleading Yamataian Prime Minister Yamamoto Hanako when he spoke to her about Hinomoto's import statistics.

Misuse of public funds
In 2017, Adachi was accused of using public funds to buy a rare Molitor sports car. In 2018, he was again accused of using public funds to renovate one of his mountain villas.

In late 2018, Adachi was again accused of using public funds for a personal holiday to Chisei, which he initially attempted to pass off as an official visit for secret trade talks with the Chiseian government. However, Chisei's government denied Adachi's claims and he changed his story, claiming that he went for a private meeting with Chiseian business figures to secure their support and investment in independent Hinomoto. As he did indeed have a meal with several close business associates and partners of his company, investigations were closed.

Conspiracy theory
In 2022, a conspiracy theory emerged on Amiwa that Adachi had been planted by the Yamataian government in order to destroy the TLP, enable the election of the far more pro-Yamatai Kawaba Fuminori, and derail the pro-independence movement entirely. Supporters of the theory cite the close ties that Adachi enjoyed with various Yamataian conglomerates, as well as how he seemingly joined the TLP out of nowhere during a period of strong pro-independence sentiment, only to fumble the entire pro-independence agenda so egregiously badly that the pro-independence movement became associated with his numerous controversies.