Kinami Republic

The Kinami Republic (officially 北海領土自由共和国 (Kinamiryōdo jiyūkyōwakoku), lit: The Free Republic of the Northern Seas Territories), commonly known as Kinami, is an insular country in northernmost Hikto. It’s player is Jompiter.

It encompasses an archipielago of 9 islands: Nandaitō (南大島県), Nishimori (西森県), Higashimori (東森県), Yamagatsu (山月県), Hoshimi (星見県), Seizayama (星座山県), Hokkyoku (北極県), Aosuisei (青彗星県) and Hakumi (白海県). Officially the Kinami Republic is divided into 9 provinces (one for each island) plus the Kaitō Metropolitan Area (海東都).

The islands were fist settled by both the Japanese Empire in 1146AD. The islands became an independent kingdom in 1198, and became isolated because of location. While pacifist, the Kingdom had a strong army for defense against any kind of invasion that proved useful multiple times throughout the centuries. On the second half of the 20th century a pacific revolution ended up with the Transition from a Kingdom to a democratic constitutional monarchy, setting the foundations for modern-day Kinami. The First Kinami Constitution was approved on December 1977, and the first elections for the Senate were held on February 1978. The population increased to almost three times the population of the kingdom during the first years of the democracy as a result of a good political climate and a very high living quality. However the political climate soon turned hostile because of the big amount of parties involved. The advancements of technology and the political unrest generated by a very fragmented senate led to the rewriting of the Constitution and the subsequent proclamation of the Free Kinami Republic, backed by a 89% of the popular vote and with a unified cyberocratic democracy system in which the power is held by a direct democracy and an AI. King Caros II, the monarch at that moment, and the royal family became the engineers in charge of the AI.

Nowadays the Kinami Republic is one of the most technologically advanced countries in Hikto, and its main exports are technology, scientific research, mining and tourism, Kaitō being one of the most visited cities in the world.

First settlements
The oldest known settlement is from the year 353AD and is believed to be from vikings. However, it wasn’t until the year 1146 that it was colonized by the Empire of Japan. The first settlement was made in modern-day Kaitō and for the following 50 years the empire exploited the massive forests and made mines, but the harsh and unforgiving winters and the remote location made them loose interest. The inhabitants, led by the would-be king Shoto I, proclaimed independence and the formation of the Kinami Kingdom. The Empire found out years later, as they were paying absolutely no attention to it.

Kingdom of Kinami (1198-1976)
The islands became independent in 1198, and formed the Kingdom of Kinami with capital in Kaitō. Due to the remote location and difficult access, the Kingdom remained mainly isolationist, though it maintained sporadic commercial ties with the empire. The royal family did not have relations with any of the european Grand Houses. The Kingdom developed a strong pacifist behavior throughout the years, though it still mantained a strong military for defense. Most of the population lived in the capital and surrounding ares, with only 25% percent of the total population living elsewhere.

While the history of the kingdom is rather uneventful, there are two events of note. The first is 1527-1537 crisis, caused by an extremely harsh winter that left most people without any food, and that lasted 10 long years. The population was reduced to a third, and even the royal family was left without food as Queen Runa I decided to sell the royal family’s riches to feed everyone. The crisis was resolved with the arrival of a warm period and the help of the former Southern Iles. The second event was the invasion attempt by the South Iles in 1601. The Royal Army, led by General Kamiko Hiri, succeeded in warding off the Southern Iles’ forces with minimal losses. The Southern Iles were preparing to attack again but a civil war broke out and the Kinami Kingdom was left alone.

In the second half of the 20th century the population, fueled by Internet media and certain parties, began to demand democracy. Although the royal family was against it, the protests and the menace of a full-out revolution forced the king to acknowledge the will of the people and proclaim the Kinami Democracy.

Kinami Democracy (1976-2018)
The system, decided by popular vote, was a unicameral constitutional monarchy. A Constitution Writing Comitee was formed and the First Kinami Constitution was approved by the people on December 6, 1977. The king, head of State, became a nominative position with almost no power. The Senate was created, with 42 seats and members elected by direct vote. The executive power would be held by a Chancellor and 6 Ministries, elected by the Senate.

The fist elections were held on February 14th 1978, and the party Advancing Kinami won with a 74% majority. Two other parties entered the Senate: the Kinami Right Party (19%) and the Democratic Kinami Union (7%). The first elected Chancellor was Mikato Aona.

During the first years of the democracy the country experienced an important increase in life quality, due to the social policies of Advancing Kinami. Free universal healthcare for both citizens and not-citizens was introduced in 1998, and UBI (Universal Basic Income) in 2011, being the first and only country in Hitko to do so.

However, multiple new political parties appeared over time, slowly fragmenting the Senate until no party could have majority. The parties began to be hostile to each other, and the population started protesting in the streets. Violence and chaos ensued until King Caros II, who also was one of the top engineers in the country, proposed the modification of the Constitution to include the use of AI and a different democracy model with more referendums to avoid fragmentation. The proposal was accepted by everyone, and the Free Kinami Republic was proclaimed.

Free Kinami Republic (2018-present)
The proposed system was a direct democracy, in which the population voted for the approval of laws in referendums. The laws could be proposed by the Chancellor and Ministers, by the AI or by any party as long as the AI approved it. The Senate was dissolved, and the King became Head Engineer of the AI. The Constitution was redacted by the Senate before being dissolved and was approved by referendum on May 15, 2018. First elections for Chancellor were held on August 1, 2018. The Magi AI was developed by a team of more than 500 engineers, politicians and philosophers and was turned on for the first time in January 12, 2019. The construction of Soraten Tower, meant to hold the government and the Magi AI core computer, was started soon after, and was completed in 2022 with a total height of 1229 meters while over ground and a total depth of 2130 meters while underground, making it both the tallest and deepest structure in the world.

100% green energy supply for the entire country was achieved in 2025, using a mix of geotermal, hydraulic and wind energy. Seizayama (星座山県) and Hokkyoku (北極県) were annexed in 2043, while Aosuisei (青彗星県) and Hakumi (白海県) were annexed in 2045. The Kinami Inter-Island Railway, and ambitious project to connect all Kinami Islands with an underground train line was started in 2047.

Geography


The Kinami Republic consists of nine islands along the northern coast of Savia: Nandaitō (南大島県), Nishimori (西森県), Higashimori (東森県), Yamagatsu (山月県), Hoshimi (星見県), Seizayama (星座山県), Hokkyoku (北極県), Aosuisei (青彗星県) and Hakumi (白海県). All islands are mainly montainous, and, while Nandaitō, Nishimori, Higashimori, Yamagatsu, Hoshimi, Seizayama and Aosuisei are only frozen during the winter, Hokkyoku and Hakumi are frozen all year long. Each island was colonizated at a different time and thus has a distinct history.

Nandaitō (南大島県)


南大島県 (Nandaitō, lit: The Big Southern Island) is the main island of the Kinami Republic and the first one to be colonized by the Japanese Empire. It´s capital is Kawaguchi (川口市).

It was the first island to be discovered and colonized by the Japanese