 Before the Japanese surrender was formalized, the Soviet Union made preparations for an invasion of Hokkaido, but President Harry Truman made it clear that the surrender of all of the Japanese home islands would be carried out by General MacArthur per the 1943 Cairo Declaration.Hokkaido became equal with other prefectures in 1947, when the revised Local Autonomy Law became effective.The Japanese central government established the as an agency of the Prime Minister's Office in 1949 to maintain its executive power in Hokkaido.