-
- The history of the war in the Pacific is littered with
tales of Japanese
-
- cruelty against British and American servicemen, amongst
others. Not only
-
- did Imperial Japanese forces treat Allied POW's as slaves
to build their
-
- railway in Burma, but also used them in horrific medical
experiments at
-
- Mukden, Manchuria, the headquarters of the secretive
Unit 731 - Japan's
-
- chemical and biological warfare weapons facility. Yet,
even while all this
-
- was taking place, another more furtive Japanese force
was engaged in work so
-
- secret that it has remained concealed, until now.
-
-
- Operating under the command of a Royal prince of the
Imperial household, a
-
- highly secret unit was tasked with the methodical plunder
of Southeast Asia.
-
- The project was called "Golden Lily" - named
after a poem written by Emperor
-
- Hirohito. The unit plundered such profoundly large quantities
of loot from
-
- China and Southeast Asia that, following the end of the
war, the west
-
- determined to keep its activities secret. A mixture
of fear, greed, an
-
- impending cold war and a vast complex of international
corruption sat behind
-
-
- this decision.
-
-
- Cynically forgotten were the horrific deaths of Allied
POW's who were forced
-
- to build complex tunnel systems and other underground
depositories and then
-
- buried alive with the loot. One reason, perhaps, why
history will record
-
- this as one of the most explosive stories of World War
Two ever to be told.
-
-
- American author, Sterling Seagrave, has previously received
international
-
- acclaim for his penetrating investigative books: "The
Soong Dynasty," and
-
- "The Marcos Dynasty." Now, in his latest work,
The Yamato Dynasty, Seagrave
-
- unveils some of the most enduring secrets of the war
in the Pacific. The
-
- revelations are certain to cause uproar in London, Washington
& Tokyo and
-
- will, in all likelihood, contribute to a number of major
class action
-
- lawsuits against the US & Japanese governments.
-
-
- Bearing the sub-title: "The Secret History of Japan's
Imperial Family,"
-
- Seagrave's book sets out to expose numerous aspects of
the Japanese imperial
-
- family and their way of life that, even today, remains
eclipsed from the
-
- general Japanese public. Some of this information came
from memoirs written
-
- by members of the imperial family but also includes "fragments"
extracted
-
- from Emperor Hirohito's own diaries that the Imperial
Household has tried to
-
- suppress. Other information has been gathered over nearly
twenty years of
-
- intense investigation. What was learned dispels the
accepted view of
-
- history, replacing it with a reality that is both shocking
and absorbing for
-
- the reader.
-
-
- The first myth to be exploded is the claim that the current
imperial family
-
- has ruled as part of a single dynasty that has "reined
unbroken since time
-
- memorial." The facts are quite different. The
present Meiji family was
-
- installed on the throne in the mid 18th century as part
of a coup
-
- orchestrated by the powerful Satsuma, Choshu, Hizen and
Tosa clans. In
-
- consolidating the coup, the plotters plundered the vast
assets of the
-
- previous imperial family - a fact that should not be
overlooked as this
-
- story unfolds.
-
-
- Nor is the word "rule" at all accurate. As
Sterling and Peggy Seagrave make
-
- clear, the ruling family of Japan has always been governed
by others more
-
- powerful than themselves. The emperor and imperial family
are figureheads
-
- used to conceal from the public the real power brokers
who lurk behind the
-
- "black curtain." These are the family owned
and managed businesses or
-
- Zaibatsu that include such trans-national corporations
as Mitsubishi, Mitsui
-
- and Sumitomo amongst others.
-
-
- The authors say this corporate power has grown stronger,
not weaker and that
-
- the "postwar financial cliques share power with
nobody. Not with the
-
- emperor, who is only a magic wand, and not with elected
politicians, who are
-
- only hand-puppets. Financial cliques are the most powerful
forces in modern
-
- Japan." Moreover, Japan's post-war business structure
is unlike any other
-
- modern industrial society for the simple reason that
organised crime are
-
- openly factored into it. Hence the zaibatsu include
not only "financiers,
-
- bankers and heads of corporations, but underworld bosses"
- the so-called
-
- Yakuza crime clans.
-
-
- The financial elite maintain their positions of power
by paying bribes. In
-
- the same way that Japanese society is rigidly structured
in certain key
-
- ways, it should come as no surprise that political bribery
and large scale
-
- corruption are also disciplined art-forms. Political
bribes are paid in
-
- "Bullets" with each shot amounting to 100 million
Yen equivalent to
-
- US$800,000. This enables the most powerful families
to govern from a
-
- position of invisibility - a feature that has dominated
the thoughts of
-
- Japan's ruling elite throughout recent history.
-
-
- The most powerful man in Japan today is virtually unknown
in the west, and
-
- is only rarely mentioned at home because of his connections
with
-
- international sporting events. As head of the Seibu
group, Tsutsumi
-
- Yoshiaki's power snakes out to over 100 Japanese corporations
and numerous
-
- international businesses. Yet, the authors say that
Tsutsumi Yoshiaki is
-
- probably the richest man in the world with declared assets
greater than
-
- those of Bill Gates before the American computer whiz-kids
bank balance hit
-
- $50 billion. Meanwhile, Tsumtimi's undeclared assets
are greater still, the
-
- authors believe.
-
-
- A significant proportion of the current financial power
of the zaibatsu and,
-
- indeed, that of the imperial family, has its origin in
WWII. For instance
-
- Seagrave reveals that "Most zaibatsu had participated
in the looting of
-
- conquered countries and helped in running the wartime
drug trade on the
-
- mainland. An estimated $3 billion was made in the heroin
trade alone."
-
- After the war, the vast wealth that had been accumulated
from the heroin
-
- trade and from plundering China and other Southeast Asian
nations magically
-
- disappeared. The result was that Allied military Supremo,
General Douglas
-
- MacArthur accepted the position that Japan was technically
bankrupt. This
-
- minimised the amount Japan was ordered to pay in war
reparations to a meagre
-
- $1 billion. From this, Allied Prisoners of War were
paid trivial amounts in
-
- recompense for the inhumanities inflicted upon them during
their internment.
-
- British POW's were paid a miserable £48 each, for
example.
-
-
- As part of his duties as Supreme Commander Allied Powers,
General Douglas
-
- MacArthur was ordered by Washington, to conduct a meticulous
audit of the
-
- imperial family's entire wealth. MacArthur silently
demurred and, instead,
-
- instructed Hirohito's own accountants and advisers to
prepare a "self-audit
-
- listing only the emperor's domestic holdings as of late
October 1945."
-
- Hirohito's team set about their task with relish, latching
on to numerous,
-
- ingenious ploys to minimise the emperor's wealth. The
figure they
-
- eventually presented to MacArthur totalled about $100
million. This led to
-
- the bizarre announcement by Supreme Commander Allied
Powers that the
-
- emperor, after paying taxes and other 'penalties"
only possessed the paltry
-
- sum of $42,000 in cash.
-
-
- The reality was, as ever, quite different. Experts who
have investigated
-
- these matters now conclude that the emperor's domestic
wealth, excluding art
-
- treasures, land, palaces and other items, was closer
to $4 billion. This
-
- huge sum had accumulated over many decades and represented
the throne's
-
- percentage of zaibatsu company profits and shareholdings
that formed the
-
- historical arrangements to keep the emperor "above"
bribes.
-
-
- Yet this sum was just part of an even greater hoard of
wealth that was
-
- hidden at the end of the war. In January 1944, when
it became clear that
-
- the Allies would win the war, Privy Seal Kido called
a meeting of Japan's
-
- leading investment bankers to advise the throne on how
best to preserve the
-
- wealth of the imperial family. The authors go on to
reveal that in addition
-
- to large foreign investments and shareholdings, the emperor's
large
-
- portfolio of gold, silver and platinum was "held
under various covers in the
-
- vaults of banks in Switzerland, Sweden, the Vatican,
Portugal, Argentina,
-
- Spain, Britain and the United States." The bullion
that could not be
-
- laundered in time was trucked to a vast underground imperial
"bunker" where
-
- it was stashed in secret. This was at Nagano, north
of Tokyo, a backwater
-
- town artfully developed by Tsutsumi Yoshiaki in time
for the 1998 Winter
-
- Olympics. Tsutsumi, as head of Japan's Olympic Committee,
had earlier
-
- courted Juan Antonio Samaranch, chairman of the International
Olympic
-
- Committee. This would later lead to sensational press
stories that huge
-
- bribes had changed hands.
-
-
- The Nagona bullion bunker was only one of numerous treasure
sites where loot
-
- from all over Asia was buried before the war's end.
On the Philippines
-
- alone, there were 172 locations used to stash booty plundered
by the
-
- imperial Golden Lily treasure teams. The author's reproduce
one of Prince
-
- Chichibu's burial maps showing a complex tunnel system
dug by POW's under
-
- the army base at Teresa, near Rizal, southeast of Manilla.
Here, bullion,
-
- platinum diamonds and valuable religious artefacts -
including a golden
-
- Buddha figurine weighing one tonne - and collectively
valued by Golden Lily
-
- accountants at $190 billion - were buried together with
live Allied POW's
-
- that had been forced to dig the tunnels.
-
-
- Part of the Teresa site was later recovered by Philippine
President
-
- Ferdinand Marcos - lending real weight to tales of "Marcos
gold" that have
-
- been treated more as fantasy than fact by the international
media. Press
-
- interest has been limited, until now, to the 1971 recovery
of a Burmese
-
- Golden Buddha figurine by amateur treasure hunter Rogelio
"Roger" Roxas.
-
- The figurine had a detachable head that when removed
left a small cavity
-
- stuffed full of diamonds. The figurine was later stolen
from Roxas by
-
- President Marcos. Roxas was later murdered before he
could give evidence in
-
- a US court in Hawaii that awarded Marcos victims a total
of $25 billion in
-
- damages.
-
-
- The sheer quantity and value of plunder gathered by the
Golden Lily was mind
-
- numbing. The whole of Asia under Japanese control had
been combed for
-
- treasure. Most of it was shipped to Prince Chichibu's
headquarters in the
-
- Philippines. By 1943, American submarine activity had
cut the sea lanes
-
- making gold shipments less certain. To circumvent Allied
air and naval
-
- attacks, Prince Chichibu had a fleet of four vessels
painted with a Red
-
- Cross. These continued to ply their way back and forth
between Japanese
-
- controlled territories and the Philippines carrying huge
amounts of plunder.
-
-
- After the war had finished, Japanese led groups began
to recover large
-
- amounts treasure hidden in the Philippines. They were
not alone. Seagrave
-
- reveals that American OSS (forerunner of the CIA) agents
watched as Japanese
-
- troops buried treasure at Luzon in the Philippines and
began a clandestine
-
- recovery operation between 1945 and 1948. This was headed
by a
-
- Filipino-American OSS - and later CIA -officer, Severino
Garcia Santa
-
- Romana. Romana, in turn, worked under the watchful eye
of the late and now
-
- infamous CIA operative, General Edward Lansdale - who
was embroiled in
-
- Operation Mongoose and the abortive CIA invasion of Cuba
during the Kennedy
-
- administration.
-
-
- There was no intention on the part of the OSS/CIA to
return any of the
-
- plunder to the rightful owners. Instead, Santa Romana
set up numerous front
-
- companies to launder the gold bullion secretly recovered.
In all OSS/CIA
-
- gold bullion was secretly deposited in a total of 176
bank accounts located
-
- in 42 countries.
-
-
- Nor was this a rogue operation conducted by a knowing
few. The authors
-
- reveal that General William Donovan, head of the OSS,
knew of the
-
- Lansdale-Romana recoveries, as did General Douglas MacArthur,
and former US
-
- President Herbert Hoover. Knowledge also extended to
cold war warrior and
-
- later head of the CIA Allen Dulles. Seagrave also believes
it likely that
-
- President Truman was in the charmed circle of those who
were informed.
-
-
- The twice-looted gold became "the basis of the CIA's
'off the books'
-
- operational funds during the immediate postwar years,
to create a worldwide
-
- anti-communist network." To ensure loyalty to the
cause, the CIA
-
- distributed Gold Bullion Certificates to influential
and well-known people
-
- throughout the world. The authors hold documents showing
that "one of the
-
- big gold bullion accounts set up by Santa Romana was
in the name of General
-
- Douglas MacArthur." Other documents indicate that
gold bullion worth $100
-
- million was placed in an account in the name of Herbert
Hoover, former
-
- President of the United States.
-
-
- Meanwhile, Allied veterans of the war in the Pacific
continue to fight for
-
- meaningful compensation for the barbarous treatment they
experienced. The
-
- $1 billion reparations paid by Japan, once it had been
divided among the
-
- many millions entitled to compensation, amounted to a
pittance. As late as
-
- November 1998 a Tokyo court rejected an appeal from 20,000
British,
-
- Australian, New Zealand and American former internees
who had asked for
-
- compensation of $22,000 each.
-
-
- In contrast to this miserly sum paid to Allied POW's,
leading Japanese
-
- zaibatsu submitted their own claims for compensation
after the war, arguing
-
- that the damage inflicted on their armaments factories
by Allied air raids
-
- required restitution. These claims totalled $5 billion
and many were paid.
-
- Copyright 1999
|
