-
- 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
-
|