2019 Hinomoto government crisis

The 2019 Hinomoto government crisis was triggered by the sudden resignation of Adachi Masahiro as the Chief Executive of Hinomoto and the leader of the Trade and Labour Party (TLP). During a morning press conference on 10 November 2019, Adachi suddenly announced his immediate resignation as Chief Executive and leader of the TLP. Though he did not officially dissolve the Directorate, all but two of his directors resigned immediately after. As the TLP had had almost no reaction time, a new government was not immediately formed.

Since 2018, Adachi's government had been impacted by numerous controversies over corruption, cronyism, and misuse of public funds perpetrated by Adachi and his Directorate, as well as a number of other scandals involving directors that Adachi had appointed. Approval ratings of the government reached the lowest since 1997. At the same time, the TLP faced an ongoing internal conflict between the centre-left "Old Guard" and Adachi's populist "Independence Mafia". Though numerous elements within the TLP sought to unseat Adachi, he narrowly won a vote of confidence in his leadership in June 2019 and stated that he would not resign.

On 25 October, Adachi's wife Adachi Chiyoko was implicated in an insider trading scandal. TLP members called for a second vote of confidence to be held, while numerous TLP and opposition Gikai members called for his resignation. Initially, Adachi promised that he would not resign, but on 1 November he stated that he was "beginning to consider" preparing to hand power to a new Chief Executive. On 10 November, Adachi suddenly declared his resignation as Chief Executive and as leader of the TLP, then immediately left Tsutsuji Castle to his mansion in Akakiri. Immediately afterwards, almost the entire Directorate also resigned, a move some believed to have been designed to intentionally sabotage the incoming Chief Executive, who was almost guaranteed to be an opponent of Adachi.

The TLP held an emergency session on 10 November to elect a new leader, but the position remained vacant for the first time since 1975. As a result, the Government of Yamatai, from which the Government of Hinomoto is devolved, demanded an explanation from the TLP. However, the TLP was unable to elect a new leader in the 10 November session due to intense party divisions. In the morning of 11 November, with no end to the deadlock in sight, Prime Minister of Yamatai Yamamoto Hanako threatened to invoke Article 9 of the Territorial Law of Hinomoto, which states that the Government of Yamatai has the right to appoint a new Chief Executive and form a Directorate of their choosing in the event of a territorial emergency or Hinoan governmental crisis. Yamamoto gave the TLP a deadline of 12 hours to select a new Chief Executive and form a new government.

At 5 PM on the 11 of November, the TLP faction leaders agreed to appoint Party General Secretary Kojima Yasushi as an emergency Chief Executive in order to resolve the government crisis, the first time in Hinoan history that a Chief Executive was appointed who was not also the leader of the ruling party, and also the first time a Chief Executive was appointed without an election. Kojima hastily formed a new government. The Yamataian government was satisfied by the appointment.

Subsequently, the struggle between the TLP factions continued, with fresh elections for Party Chairman planned for 25 November. Konishi Eiji later came out of retirement to rally the "Old Guard" against the "Independence Mafia", and he subsequently won the elections for Party Chairman. Konishi allowed Kojima, one of his chief supporters, to remain as Chief Executive in an unprecedented move, though the Directorate was dissolved and reformed based on Konishi's recommendations on 5 December.

During the entire crisis, Adachi refused to leave his mansion in Akakiri, which was surrounded by protesters and supporters, causing a riot to break out when the two groups clashed. On 12 November, he left the mansion in a private helicopter to hand over Tsutsuji Palace and other effects to his successor, Kojima.