Handover of Hinomoto

The return of sovereignty over Hinomoto, commonly known as the handover of Hinomoto (or simply the Handover), occurred at noon on 1 September 1974, when Chisei ended their occupation and administration over the occupied regions of the Hinoan archipelago and returned control of the territory to Yamatai. Hinomoto became a self-governing region of Yamatai with a devolved government and a separate economy, which it remains to this day.

Held in Akakiri, which had acted as the administrative capital of the Chiseian occupation, the ceremony was located at Tokudaiji Square along the Akakiri waterfront. The Grand Queen of Chisei Suzumeko, the Empress of Yamatai Kiyono, various Chiseian and Yamataian state leaders, and numerous foreign dignitaries were in attendance when the Chiseian flag was lowered and the Yamataian was raised at exactly 12 noon local time.

This event ended the 30 years of Chiseian occupation over Hinomoto, which formally began in 1944 with the signing of the Treaty of Senbonzakura at the end of the Second Escar-Varunan War. During the occupation, the heavy damage sustained during the Battle of Hinomoto had been largely repaired, with a thriving economy and Chisei-influenced cultural developments different from that of Yamatai. The handover was carried out bilaterally between the Chiseian and Yamataian governments with the Chisei-Yamatai Agreement of Mutual Understanding, and did not involve any representatives of the Hinoan people. Previous calls by Hinoan pro-independence groups as well as certain foreign commentators to allow the Hinoan people to choose the fate of Hinomoto though a plebiscite had been rejected by both the Chiseian and Yamataian governments.

Following the handover, Hinomoto adopted the official name of Hinomoto Special Administrative Region of the Empire of Yamatai. On the same day, the Prime Minister of Yamatai Takashima Satoshi appointed the first Chief Executive of Hinomoto, Matsuda Yoshihide, who had been directly elected by an election the month prior that the Chiseian government assisted Yamatai in carrying out.

Shortly after the handover, radical Hinoan nationalist and pro-independence groups began clashing with Yamataian government forces as well as pro-Yamataian Hinoan groups, marking the start of the Hinomoto Insurrection and the deployment of Yamataian military forces to Hinomoto to contain the sectarian violence.